LIBRARY 

OF   THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GTF'T  OF" 


S*.    <7, 


Accession  No. 


6  7  . 


TRIUMPHS  OF  THE  BIBLE, 


WITH  THE 


TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE 


TO   ITS   TRUTH. 


BY 

REV.  HENRY  TULLIDGE,  A.M. 


— REV.  vi.  2. 

"  Science  may  scale  new  heights  and  explore  new  depths,  but  she  shall  bring 
back  nothing  from  her  daring  and  successful  excursions  which  will  not,  when 
rightly  understood,  yield  a  fresh  tribjito-of  Testimony  to  the  Bible."— MELVILLE'S 
Sermons. 

OF 

UNIVERSITY 


NEW YORK: 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER,   124  GRAND  STREET. 
1863. 


ENTEKED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 

CHAELES    SCKIBNEE, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


JOHN   F.   TROW, 
PRINTER,  STEREOTYPER,  AND  ELECTROTVPER, 

46,  48,  &  50  Greene  St.,  New  York. 


PKEFACE. 


THE  following  pages  are  the  result  of  an  effort  to  produce  a 
book  of  Christian  Evidences,  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  tunes. 
Upon  a  subject  which  has  occupied  so  many  illustrious  minds,  and 
given  birth  to  monuments  of  sanctified  genius  and  learning  that 
rank  among  the  foremost  achievements  of  the  human  intellect,  it 
might  be  supposed  that  nothing  more  was  needed.  Yet  rich  as 
English  literature  is  in  defences  of  our  faith,  most  of  them  were 
written  with  distinct  reference  to  some  particular  errors  which 
they  opposed  in  their  own  day.  They  are  still,  and  will  ever  re- 
main, invaluable  to  the  student,  as  depositories  and  armories  of  re- 
search and  argument,  but  they  are  not  directly  available  against 
the  peculiar  difficulties  with  which  Christianity  is  now  called  to 
contend.  The  objections  which  are  brought  against  the  religion 
of  the  Bible  at  the  present  day,  are  of  a  very  different  character 
from  those  which  were  so  conclusively  met  by  the  profound  and 
masterly  reasonings  of  Butler,  Campbell,  Paley,  Leland,  and  others. 
The  adversary  has  returned  to  the  assault  with  far  deeper  artifices 
and  more  plausible  disguises.  "Forms  of  error  more  subtile  than 
ever  Ebionite  propounded  or  Marcionite  devised,  are  now  silently 
producing  their  influence  on  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  who 
bear  on  their  foreheads  the  baptismal  cross  of  Christ." *  "  Infidelity 
of  late,"  said  Dr.  Croly,  "  has  changed  its  tone ;  it  is  no  longer  con- 
temptuous, insulting,  and  audacious.  It  now  assumes  the  pretence  of 
reluctant  doubt,  laborious  learning,  and  conscientious  investigation. 
Yet  more  desperate  corruptions  of  the  truth  of  God,  more  profligate 
attempts  to  unsettle  the  soul,  or  a  more  inveterate  passion  to  throw 

>  EUicott's  Hulseafc  Lectures,  p.  21,  Am.  ed. 


4  PREFACE, 

man  into  the  grasp  of  moral  death,  were  never  exhibited  in  the  most 
ostentatious  periods  of  hostility  to  the  Gospel."  This  warning, 
littered  fifteen  years  ago,  had  special  reference  to  the  rationalistic 
developments  in  Germany,  though  there  were  not  wanting  indi- 
cations that  the  errors  which  were  there  full  blown,  had  already 
been  transplanted,  in  their  germ  at  least,  to  England.  It  may 
now  be  said,  that  in  the  latter  country,  as  in  Germany  before, 
scepticism  has  penetrated  even  into  the  Sanctuary,  donned  surplice, 
gown,  and  cassock,  and  speaks  from  university  chairs  and  parish 
pulpits.  And  there  also  the  divine  authority  of  Kevelation  is  the 
main  object  of  attack.  "  One  period,"  says  a  German  writer,  "  has 
fought  for  Christ's  sepulchre ;  another  for  his  body  and  blood ; 
the  present  period  contends  for  his  word."  By  these  preachers 
of  a  Gospel  "adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  nineteenth  century,"  the 
Bible  is  not  avowedly  rejected.  Honeyed  words  are  spoken  by 
them  in  its  praise,  and  they  even  profess  to  esteem  it,  "  as  a  whole, 
far  the  noblest  collection  of  sacred  works  in  the  world."  But  its 
claim  to  be  received  as  an  inspired  and  infallible  record  of  divine 
truth — "the  law  and  the  testimony" — they  utterly  set  aside,  and 
accept  its  most  positive  statements  only  so  far  as  they  accord  with 
the  oracle  within.1  The  Bible,  they  will  admit,  contains  a  revela- 
tion, but* human  reason  is  to  determine  what  is  the  truth  commu- 
nicated. As  a  mathematician  would  cast  out  the  irrelevant  from 
a  treatise  on  geometry,  so  do  they  claim  the  prerogative,  in  virtue 
of  a  "heaven-taught  conscience"  and  the  possession  of  a  "verify- 
ing faculty,"  to  separate  the  human  from  the  divine — to  sift  the 
chaff  from  the  wheat  of  inspiration.  The  Bible  is  thus  in  effect 
made  a  kaleidoscope,  to  be  turned  and  shaken  at  the  fancy  of 
every  man  who  handles  it,  presenting  at  each  turn  a  new  and  fan- 
ciful combination  of  ever- varying  truth.  The  existence  of  abso- 
lute, unchanging  truth,  at  least  as  connected  with  religion,  they 
do  not,  indeed,  appear  to  recognise.  In  their  system,  the  receiv- 
ed facts  of  Christianity  are  sublimated  into  ideas,  while  its  doc- 
trines, ever  as  occasion  requires,  are  to  be  moulded  and  conformed 
to  the  "new  and  higher  forms  of  modern  thought." 

1  "  The  Scriptural  writers,1'  says  the  Eev.  Dr.  Kowland  Williams, "  after  all,  -were 
Trat  men,  and  the  condition  of  mankind  is  imperfect.  They  spoke  of  old,  but  all  old 
times  represent,  as  it  were,  the  childhood  of  the  human  race,  and  therefore  had 
childish  things  which  wo  must  put  away." — Rational  Godliness,  p.  294. 


PEEFACE.  5 

This  school  of  error  is  apparently  on  the  advance.  The  famous 
"Essays  and  Reviews"  in  which  two  years  ago  the  fundamental 
verities  of  Christianity  were  impugned  by  ordained  ministers  of 
the  Church  of  England,  are  now  followed  by  a  book  written  by  a 
prelate  of  the  same  church  (Dr.  Colenso),  in  which  he  undertakes 
to  demolish  the  authority  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of 
Joshua,  and  it  is  intimated  that,  in  his  next  effort,  he  may  possibly 
essay  to  prove  the  Gospels  to  be  "  unhistorical !  "  Truly  prophetic 
is  the  description  which  Spenser  gives  of  Doubt,  as  being  clad  in 
"a  coat  of  strange  disguise,"  with  "sleeves  dependant."  Unlike 
the  first  illustrious  missionary  bishop  to  the  heathen,  one  of  his 
successors  in  the  apostolate  thus  seeks  to  destroy  the  faith  he  was 
commissioned  to  proclaim.  For  it  is  vain  to  say  that  these  "  new 
views "  are  reconcilable  with  holding  to  the  essential  verities  of 
the  faith.  The  enlightened  mind,  whose  moral  and  intellectual 
perceptions  have  not  been  clouded  by  the  mephitic  vapors  of 
transcendentalism  and  ideology,  clearly  sees  that  the  foundation 
is  thus  attacked,  and  that  vital  interests  are  at  stake.  If  the  sacred 
vessel  that  holds  the  water  of  life  be  shattered,  its  precious  con- 
tents, spilt  upon  the  ground,  can  never  be  gathered  up  again.  The 
"  bewildered  friends"  of  Christianity  may  be  unaware  of  their  posi- 
tion. "  With  numb  and  icy  fingers  they  may  feel  around  the  cross 
which  they  do  not  grasp,"  but  their  Gospel  is  not  that  of  Paul  and 
of  John.  If  they  are  not  "  breaking  down  the  carved  work  of  the 
sanctuary  with  axes  and  hammers,"  they  are  assiduously  engaged 
in  undermining  it.  And  for  what  ?  That  they  may  overturn  the 
grand  and  stately  temple  which  through  so  many  ages  "  the  good- 
ly fellowship  of  the  prophets  "  and  "  the  glorious  company  of  the 
apostles"  were  employed  in  rearing  for  us,  and  of  which  God 
himself  is  the  Architect,  and  raise  up  in  its  room  the  "ever-top- 
pling fabrics  of  scepticism" — 

"  Cloud  towers  by  ghostly  masons  wrought 
In  shadowy  thoroughfares  of  thought." 

In  view  of  such  developments,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  old 
enemies  of  the  truth  are  beside  themselves  with  delight.  Their 
interpretation  of  these  "  unwonted  signs "  is  that  they  betoken 
"  the  advent  of  a  great  spiritual  reformation."  In  its  traditional 
and  accepted  forms,  they  already  assume  Christianity  to  be  a  thing 


6  PREFACE. 

of  the  past ;  but  they  console  those  who  would  regret  its  *  dying 
out "  with  the  assurance  that  "  a  purer  and  brighter  light  is  about 
to  dawn  upon  us."  "  The  gallant  ship  "  (of  Christian  truth),  loosed 
from  "  the  chains  of  a  dogmatic  theology,"  is  now  prosecuting  "  a 
voyage  of  discovery  and  adventure  on  the  dark  waters  of  unknown 
seas,  and  the  bright  light  of  the  rising  sun  illumines  her  pathway 
to  the  haven  where  she  would  be."  Already,  it  would  seem,  that 
her  prow  must  have  "grated  the  golden  isles"  of  doubt — that  the 
great  "  discovery  "  had  been  made  which  the  "  prophetic  spirit " 
of  Emerson,  the  "deep  insight"  of  Carlyle,  and  the  "spiritual  ear- 
nestness "  of  the  younger  Newman,  so  long  have  waited  for.  At 
least  such  joy  is  theirs 

"  As  when  to  them  who  sail 

Beyond  the  cape  of  Hope,  and  now  are  past 

Mbzambic,  off  at  sea  northeast  winds  blow 

Sabean  odors  from  the  spicy  shore 

Of  Arabic  the  blest." 

The  exulting  champion  of  scepticism  does  not  hesitate  to  claim 
that  "  the  whole  mental  food  of  the  day — science,  history,  morals, 
poetry,  fiction,  and  essay — is  prepared  by  men  who  have  long 
ceased  to  believe."  l  It  does  not  appear,  however,  what  it  is  that 
has  supplied  the  place  of  that  "  old  belief  "  in  which  such  men  as 
Bacon,  Newton,  and  Locke  found  rest  to  their  souls.  There  is 
doubtless  great  exaggeration  in  the  above  statement,  which  rather 
expresses  the  wish  of  the  writer  than  the  condition  of  things  as  it 
actually  exists.  Still  it  also  contains  much  truth.  And  there  is 
not  a  little  in  the  "  signs  of  the  times  "  to  occasion  serious  appre- 
hension to  those  who  stand  by  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints." 

The  believer  knows,  indeed,  that  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of 
scepticism  are  doomed  to  disappointment — knows  that  the  cause 
of  Zion  is  in  safe  hands.  The  bands  of  error  that  are  now  gather- 
ed against  her  battlements,  like  "  the  midnight  host  of  spectres 
pale  "  that  once,  according  to  the  wild  old  legend,  "  beleaguered 
the  walls  of  Prague,"  will  be  scattered  by  the  light  of  the  Morning 
Star.  And  even  though  the  enemy  succeed  in  effecting  a  lodg- 
ment within  the  citadel — 

'  Duel  intra  muros  .  .  .  et  arce  locari  '— 

1  Westminster  Review. 


PREFACE.  7 

yet  will  not  that  device  avail  to  overthrow  the  Christian  Ilium. 
"  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  she  shall  not  be  moved."  As  from 
the  earliest  times  the  Church  has  been  infested  by  "false  teachers" 
within  her  walls,  as  well  as  assaulted  by  foes  without,  and  has 
ever  triumphed  over  both,  so  will  it  be  again.  Could  the  Bible 
be  overthrown,  then,  indeed,  would  her  Palladium  be  lost ;  but  as 
Archbishop  Whateley  says,  "  Scripture  is  in  itself  invulnerable ; 
and  they  who  attack  it,  do  but  dash  themselves  to  pieces  against  a 
rock."  Yet,  though  the  Church  and  the  Bible  are  secure,  it  is 
requisite,  as  far  as  possible,  to  prevent  error  from  multiplying  its 
victims.  The  snares  of  the  enemy  must  be  laid  bare  and  his  arti- 
fices exposed.  And  this  will  not  be  done  by  alleging  that  the 
battle  of  Christianity  has  been  already  fought  and  won— that  the 
vindications  of  its  truth,  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  strong  champions 
of  old,  are  unanswered  and  unanswerable.  It  is  doubtless  true 
that  the  objections  and  theories  of  modern  unbelief  are,  mainly, 
but  reproductions  in  novel  forms  of  speculations  whose  fallacies 
were  long  since  exposed.  Thus  the  pantheism  of  Spinosa  is  re- 
vived in  the  oracular  utterances  of  Emerson,  and  the  "  absolute 
religion "  of  Theodore  Parker  is  but  a  prosaic  version  of  Pope's 
Universal  Prayer.  The  "Colossal  man"  theory  of  Intellectual 
progression  seems  to  have  been  anticipated  in  Lord  Bolingbroke's 
dictum  that  there  was  an  "  intuitive  knowledge "  in  man,  which 
constituted  "a  perpetual  standing  revelation,  always  made,  always 
making,  to  all  the  sons  of  Adam."  And  so  also  the  "  difficulties  " 
of  the  Bishop  of  Ratal's  book  are  but  a  revival  of  the  old  objec- 
tions of  Von  Bohlen  and  Bruno  Bauer,  long  ago  met  and  answered 
by  Hengstenberg  and  other  great  German  scholars.  Still,  as  a 
safeguard  to  those  who  might  otherwise  be  led  astray,  such  attacks 
must  not  be  suffered  to  pass  unnoticed.  The  battle  must  be  fought 
over  again,  though  substantially  with  the  same  weapons  that  have 
proved  their  efficiency  in  so  many  former  conflicts.  If  the  old 
works  of  evidence  will  not  now  be  read,  then  new  ones  should  be 
written  with  corresponding  adaptations  to  the  new  modes  of  attack 
adopted  by  the-  enemy.  And  especially  should  means  be  taken  to 
convince  the  promising  youth  in  our  halls  of  learning,  that  Christian- 
ity is  fully  able  to  "  stand  the  light  of  the  age  in  which  we  live  " 
— that  there  is  no  such  "  unbridged  chasm,"  as  scepticism  insinuates, 
between  Science  and  Eevelation.  And  though  we  tannot  doubt, 
that  God's  watchful  care  and  grace  will  be  over  his  Church  to  the 


8  PKEFACE, 

end  of  time,  BO  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  finally  prevail  against 
it,  yet  it  should  also  be  considered,  that  the  necessity  of  human 
exertion,  so  long  as  second  causes  shall  form  part  of  the  Divine 
economy,  will  not  therefore  he  superseded.  If  the  sceptic  will 
occupy  himself  in  the  task  of  ransacking  all  ancient  and  modern 
learning,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  some  flaw,  some  incon- 
sistency, in  the  charter  of  our  salvation,  it  is  at  least  incumbent 
upon  the  Christian  scholar  who  is  "set  for  the  defence  of  the 
Gospel,"  to  exercise  a  like  zeal  and  industry  in  behalf  of  a  trust 
BO  sacred  and  so  tremendously  important.  Moreover,  as  there  is 
the  authority  of  Bishop  Butler  for  the  statement  that "  the  evidences 
of  Christianity  are  a  long  series  of  things,  reaching  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world  to  the  present  time,  of  great  variety  and 
compass,  taking  in  the  direct  and  also  the  collateral  proofs,  and 
making  up  all  of  them  together  but  one  argument," — it  is  obvious, 
that  as  the  materials  for  that  "  argument "  accumulate,  they  should 
be  wrought  in,  in  order  that  its  strength,  impregnability,  and 
grandeur  may  be  duly  apprehended. 

It  is  not  proposed  in  the  present  work  to  survey  the  whole 
field  of  Christian  Evidence,  nor  have  I  taken  more  than  a  passing 
glance  at  the  great  pillars  of  argument  for  the  truth,  such  as  the 
prophecies  and  miracles  of  the  Bible,  which  have  already  been 
elaborated  with  such  surpassing  skill.  The  special  object  at  which 
I  have  aimed  has  been  to  vindicate  the  truth  and  authority  of  the 
Divine  Word,  and  prove  its  harmony  with  the  discoveries  of 
Science,  while  incidentally,  replies  are  given  to  some  of  the  more 
prominent  and  plausible  objections  of  modern  unbelief.  In  follow- 
ing out  the  plan  adopted,  I  have  endeavored,  first,  to  show  that 
the  "Triumphs  of  the  Bible,"  i.  e.  the  resistance  it  has  overcome 
and  the  marvels  it  has  accomplished  in  the  world,  demonstrate  it 
to  be  from  God.  This  is  designed  as  an  introduction  to  the  main 
portion  of  the  work,  of  which  the  three  opening  chapters  are 
occupied  with  proofs  of  the  harmony  of  Physical  Science  with 
Kevelation,  while  in  the  remainder  of  the  book,  the  most  thorough 
investigations  of  what  in  distinction  may  be  termed  Historical 
Science,  are  shown  to  utter  a  like  testimony.  The  wonderful 
attestations  to  the  truth  of  Scripture,  which  have  been  obtained 
in  recent  years  from  the  "  lands  of  the  Bible,"  and  by  which  its 
Historic  Keatoty  is  vindicated  against  the  Mythical  School  of 
Scepticism,  are  brought  out  in  the  closing  chapters. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I. 

TRIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

Severity  of  its  ordeal— Its  preservation  a  twofold  argument— Scripture  itself  a 
battle-ground— Christianity  a  "  Book  Revelation  "—Its  achievements— Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel— Causes  assigned  by  Gibbon  for  its  triumph  inadequate— 
The  Cross  still  a  conquering  sign— The  Book  advancing— Its  final  triumph  in 
the  world  assured — The  almoner  of  temporal  blessings — Picture  of  ancient 
Athens— Social  tyranny  of  the  people— An  accomplished  Athenian— Corres- 
ponding picture  of  Roman  manners— Beneficent  changes  wrought  by  Christi- 
anity—Glorious consummation  in  the  future— The  agent  of  intellectual  ad- 
vancement—Splendor of  the  ancient  civilization— Its  fatal  defect— Religion  of 
the  Bible  the  wanting  clement — Triumphs  during  the  dark  ages — The  great 
boon  of  the  Reformation — Influence  of  the  Bible  on  Literature,  Art,  and 
Science — Colossal  man  hypothesis — The  Bible's  greatest  triumph — Still  an 
object  of  hostility — Combination  of  enemies — Duty  of  the  Christian — The 
Bible  prepared  for  every  scrutiny^ pp.  13—71 

PART  II. 

TESTIMONY  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

PRELIMINARY. 

Difference  in  aim  and  object  of  Science  and  Revelation— Phenomenal  language- 
Truths  concealed  therein,  . pp.  73—76 

CHAPTER  I. 

ASTRONOMY. 

The  word  "  firmament"— The  earth's  motion— Gravitation  implied— Uniformity  of 
the  earth's  rotation— Countless  number  of  the  stars— Sceptical  inference  and 
objection — Dr.  Chalmers — Probable  extent  of  the  moral  influence  of  redemp- 
tion—God's ways  and  thoughts  not  as  ours— His  glory  seen  in  the  minute  as  in 
the  vast — Analogies  of  Scripture — Infidel  Cosmogony — Nebular  Hypothesis — 
Evidences  of  Creative  design— Arrangement  for  the  stability  of  the  solar  sys- 
tem—Obliquity of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  equator— Acceleration  of  the  earth's 
motion— Resisting  medium— Other  indications  of  approaching  change— In  har- 
1* 


10  CONTENTS. 

mony  with  Creation's  apparent  law — Professor  Nichol — His  conjectures  antici- 
pated in  the  Bible— Restitution  of  all  things— The  Heaven  of  the  Bible— Dis- 
covery of  the  planet  Neptune — Surpassed  by  the  achievements  of  Christian 
faith—"  Delectable  Mountains"— Doctor  Payson— Giles  Fletcher's  description 
of  "  the  Holy  City," pp.  77—106 

CHAPTER  H. 

GEOLOGY. 

Its  rank  as  a  science— Formerly  received  opinion  of  tho  date  of  Creation— Wrecks 
of  a  former  state  of  nature— Cuvier— Its  leading  principles  now  established- 
Each  of  the  strata  a  vast  catacomb — Immense  quantity  of  fossil  remains — Tab- 
let of  signs— Geology  tho  key— Apparent  discrepancy  with  Scripture— Favorite 
counter-explanation — Orderly  arrangement  cannot  be  referred  to  a  disturbing 
agency — Simulacra— Such  resorts  unnecessary — Difficulty  of  reconcilement 
not  with  Scripture,  but  with  misconceptions  of  its  meaning — Coincidences  of 
the  Mosaic  narrative  of  Creation  with  the  discoveries  of  Geology— Preparation 
for  man— Remarks  of  Professor  Guyot— Death  in  the  world  before  Adam- 
Vast  antiquity  of  the  globe — First  mode  of  reconcilement  with  Scripture — 
Alleged  to  be  no  longer  adequate— Another  mode— Scriptural  difficulty— How 
met— Each  hypothesis  consistent  with  the  letter  of  Scripture— The  deluge  of 
Noah— No  physical  evidences  remaining— Objections'  to  its  extending  over  tho 
entire  globe— Mosaic  account  examined— Probably  not  literally  universal— This 
view  supported  by  Bishop  Stillingfleet  and  Matthew  Poole — Answers  all  objec- 
tions— North  British  Review  quoted — The  "  minute  philosophers  " — Dr.  Buck- 
land— Geology  a  witness  for  Revelation— Development  hypothesis— Infidel  ob- 
jection to  miracles  overthrown, pp.  107—144 

CHAPTER  III. 

PHYSICAL  SCIENCE    CONTINUED. 

A  difficulty  for  the  sceptic— Scientific  absurdities  of  the  ancients— Fathers  of  the 
Church— Kepler— Dreams  substituted  for  realities  in  matters  of  observation- 
Credulity  of  Pliny  and  Tacitus— Virgil— Contrast  of  the  Bible— Remarkable 
power  of  adjustment  in  its  language— One  hundred  and  fourth  Psalm— Baron 
Humboldt — Distinction  between  primitive  and  solar  light  recognized— The  day- 
spring— Adaptation  of  light  to  the  atmosphere— Weight  of  the  air  and  measure 
of  the  waters—"  Circuits  "—Dust  of  gold— "  Since  man  was  upon  the  earth'.'— 
Great  principles  of  science  recognized— Universal  prevalence  of  law— Higher 
law  of  progress  and  development — Adaptation — Law  of  type  or  pattern — God's 
Word  verified  in  all  cases  by  his  works— Inadequacy  of  science  to  our  spiritual 
wants— The  great  question— Abiding  truth— Key  to  all  mysteries,  pp.  145—172 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  UNITY  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE. 

Theory  of  primitive  centres— Inconsistent  with  Scripture— Physical  Identity- 
Moral  and  intellectual  constitution  everywhere  the  same — Dr.  Prichard's  Nat- 
ural History  of  Man— Influence  of  Climate— Historical  Testimony— Observa- 
tions of  Bishop  Heber  in  India— Baron  Humboldt— Insufficiency  of  time  ob- 


CONTENTS.  1 1 

jected — Divine  intervention  probable — Law  of  deterioration  more  rapid  than 
restoration — Appeal  to  Scripture— Inequality  of  mental  endowment — Contrasts 
no  deeper  than  the  surface— Comparative  Philology  a  witness  for  the  Bible— 
Dr.  Max  Muller — Fossil  remains  of  languages — Summary  of  arguments  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Breekinridge,  .  pp.  173—192 

CHAPTER  V. 

SACRED   CHRONOLOGY. 

Difficulties  of  the  subject — Objections  to  the  Hebrew  Chronology — Reasons  for 
preferring  the  larger  Chronology  of  the  Septuagint — Considered  a  vulnerable 
point  fifty  years  ago— Sanguine  anticipations  of  infidelity  disappointed— As- 
tronomical observations  of  the  Hindus — Historical  records  of  China  and  India 
— Egyptian  zodiacs — Rosetta  stone — Manetho— His  dynasties  partly  contempo- 
raneous— Syncellus — Different  results  arrived  at  by  the  learned — Extravagant 
views  of  Baron  Bunsen— Mr.  Rawlinson  quoted— A  moderate  Egyptian  Chro- 
nology established  by  the  researches  of  Mr.  Poole — Reconcilable  with  a  remote 
Egyptian  antiquity— Estimate  of  Baron  Bunsen's  authority— Table  of  Abydos 
—Heliacal  rising  of  the  Pleiades— Geology  a  witness  to  the  late  appearance  of 
man — Bishop  Berkeley — Sir  Charles  Lyell's  counter  theory  of  man  among  the 
mammoths  examined — His  inferences  not  proven — Opinion  of  Professor  Sedg- 
wick— Lucretius, pp.  193—211 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PRIMITIVE   HISTORIC   TRADITIONS. 

Value  of  the  Bible  as  a  record  of  the  past— Infidel  objection— Shadows  of  Bible 
realities— Origin  of  Pagan  Idolatry— Traditions  of  chaos  and  creation— The 
seventh  day— Age  of  innocence— The  serpent— Pandora's  box— Longevity  of 
the  first  men— Four  ages— The  Titans— Traditions  of  a  Deluge  universal— Baron 
Humboldt— Grotius— Tower  of  Babel— Burning  of  Sodom— Rite  of  circumcision 
—Moses — Decree  ofPergamos — Artapanus — The  Exodus — Hermes — Miracle  of 
Joshua— Infidel  charge  refuted— Bible  truths  and  heathen  legends,  pp.  212—235 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ANCIENT     HISTORY. 

Christianity  bound  np  with  facts— Uncontradicted  by  the  early  enemies  of  the 
Gospel— Unconscious  prophecies  of  Heathendom— The  Desire  of  all  nations— 
Josephus — Archelaus — John  the  Baptist — Record  sent  by  Pilate  to  the  Roman 
Senate— Testimony  of  opponents  to  Christianity— Celsus— Tacitus— Suetonius 
—Remark  of  Gibbon— Kindred  of  Christ  brought  before  Domitian— Corres- 
pondence of  Pliny  and  Trajan — Apologies  of  Quadratus  and  Aristides — Por- 
phyry—The Emperor  Julian— Completeness  of  the  chain  of  evidence— Tri- 
umphal arch  of  Titus  at  Rome— The  Jew  of  the  present  day,  .  ^  pp.  236—255 

"  CHAPTER  VIII. 

OBJECTIONS  AND   REPLIES. 

Charge  of  discrepancy  and  contradiction— Vanishes  upon  discovery  of  the  clue— Al- 
leged collision  of  Scripture  and  Profane  History — Minute  accuracy  of  the  sacred 
writers  vindicated— Medals  for  the  coronation  of  Louis  XIV— Title  assigned  by 
Luke  to  Sergius  Paulus— Silence  of  Profane  History— Unity  and  Harmony  of  the 
Bible— Undesigned  Coincidences— Their  value  as  evidences,  .  pp.  236—270 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

SACRED  GEOGRAPHY — TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

The  Land  and  the  Book— Pictorial  Alphabet  of  spiritual  truths— Value  of  this  tes- 
timony—Constant agreement  of  the  history  and  geography  of  the  Bible— Un- 
changing manners  and  customs  of  the  East — The  face  of  nature — Present  as- 
pect of  Palestine  accounted  for — Topographical  details — Land  of  Goshen — On 
— Zoan— Passage  of  the  Red  Sea— Wells  of  Moses— Marah— Elim— Mount  Sinai 
—The  Wilderness— Approach  to  Palestine— Beersheba— Hebron— Land  of  the 
Philistines— Bethlehem— Jerusalem— Road  to  Jericho— Dead  Sea— Engedi— 
The  Jordan, pp.  271-314 

CHAPTER  X. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL   ACCURACY   OP  THE   BIBLE  (Continued.) 

Gibcon— Mizpeh— -Shiloh— Shechem  —  Samaria— Dothan— Mount  Carmel— Jezrcel 
— Nazareth — Sea  of  Galilee — Scenery  of  the  Parables— Lebanon — Hermon — 
Argument  of  Professor  Stuart, pp.  315—359 

CHAPTER  XI. 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES — OLD   TESTAMENT. 

Historic  reality  of  the  Bible— Special  object  of  infidel  attack— Rise  of  a  new  science 
—Use  made  of  it  by  infidelity— Mythical  school  of  Scepticism— Its  development 
and  extension— Influence  and  tendency— Mackay's  Progress  of  the  Intellect — 
His  interpretation  of  the  history  of  Joseph— This  new  phase  of  infidelity  over- 
ruled to  the  advantage  of  the  Bible — Internal  evidence  of  the  early  Scriptures 
— A  Providential  vindication  in  reserve — Its  timely  disclosure — Nature  of  the 
testimony  illustrated  by  discoveries  in  Pompeii — Monumental  wonders  of  Egypt 
—Particulars  of  Abraham's  visit  corroborated— Infidel  objections  answered— 
Incidents  in  the  history  of  Joseph— The  Bondage— The  "  king  who  knew  not 
Joseph  " — Shishak  and  Rehoboam — Gates  of  Mount  Seir  opened — Giant  Cities 
of  Bashan — Moab — Ammon — Ancient  Nineveh  disentombed — Range  and  extent 
of  the  Assyrian  discoveries— Pictorial  history  of  the  Empire— Summary  of  its 
incidental  confirmations  of  Scripture — Key  to  the  language  found — Identifica- 
tion of  Scripture  names— King  of  Moab's  eldest  son— Annals  of  Shalmaneser— 
Sennacherib  before  Lachish— Tribute  exacted  of  Hezekiah — Egyptian  seals 
found  in  the  Kouynjuk  Palace — Ezar-haddon — Nebuchadnezzar's  "  enchant- 
ment "—Anticipation  of  Mr.  Rawlinson— Exact  fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  the 
respective  judgments  upon  Nineveh  and  Babylon— Old  Testament  scenes  still 
reproduced  in  the  vicinity, pp.  360—409 

CHAPTER  XH. 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES — NEW  TESTAMENT. 

Attempt  to  idealize  the  New  Testament — Internal  evidence — Confession  of  Rous- 
seau—Character of  Christ— Fresh  Confirmations  brought  to  light  from  the 
Catacombs  of  Rome-Graffiti— Conclusion,  ....  pp.  410— 421 

APPENDIX.— Authenticity  and  Genuineness  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  pp.  422—429 


PART  I. 
TKIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 


AMONG  the  numerous  evidences  of  the  divine  origin  of 
the  Bible,  which  the  progress  of  time  has  accumulated,  the 
persevering  opposition  it  has  resisted  and  overcome,  is  not, 
perhaps,  the  least  considerable.  So  many  and  formidable 
are  the  assaults  it  has  sustained,  that  its^preservation  to 
this  day  unimpaired,  is  an  unanswerable  proof  that  One 
mightier  than  man  must  have  watched  over  its  safety  and 
integrity.  No  book  has  been  so  attacked  and  no  book  has 
so  triumphed  as  the  Bible.  Many  a  volume  that  once  bid 
fair  for  immortality  has  gone  down  to  oblivion.  Of  the 
unnumbered  thousands  that  have  been  written  since  the 
dawn  of  literature,  how  few,  even  of  those  that  once  filled 
the  trump  of  fame  and  were  ranked  among  the  chief  pro- 
ductions of  human  genius,  have  escaped  the  ravages  of 
time  and  the  forgetfulness  of  man !  Though  the  shelves  of 
mighty  libraries  groan  with  the  learned  labors  of  the  past, 
yet  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  works  therein  deposited,  it 
may  be  said,  that  "  like  the  bodies  of  Egyptian  kings  in 
their  pyramids,  they  retain  only  a  grim  semblance  of  life, 
amidst  neglect,  darkness,  and  decay."  Upon  the  sacred 
oracles  alone,  the  lapse  of  ages  has  gathered  no  rust. 
Time  has  not  outdated  them.  They  are  as 


14  TEIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

now,  as  when  prophets  and  apostles  first  indited  their  burn- 
ing words,  and  their  power  and  influence  were  never  be- 
fore so  great  as  they  are  to-day.  Since  they  were  first 
given  to  the  world,  mighty  empires  have  risen  and  decay- 
ed ;  proud  capitals  have  flourished  and  fallen  into  ruin ; 
numerous  generations  have  come  and  gone ;  change  and 
revolution  have  again  and  again  swept  over  the  globe ;  yet 
this  citadel  of  our  faith  has  survived  the  desolations  of 
ages,  umnutilated  and  undecayed.  During  these  revolving 
centuries,  the  Bible  has  encountered  every  form  of  peril. 
The  great  men  and  the  mighty  men,  kings  and  nations, 
pagans  and  papists,  have  sought  its  extirpation.  Popes  and 
priests  have  sought  to  corrupt  and  deface  it,  or  to  substi- 
tute monkish  legends  for  its  words  of  life.  All  that  learn- 
ing could  discover,  all  that  eloquence  could  allege,  all  that 
wit,  cunning,  and  sophistry  could  contrive,  have  been 
brought  to  bear  against  it.  The  bowels  of  the  earth  and 
the  region  of  the  stars  have  been  alike  explored  to  furnish 
means  for  its  overthrow.  Yet  all  has  been  in  vain.  Thou- 
sands of  its  friends  have  suffered  martyrdom  in  its  defence, 
yet,  like  the  mystic  bush  which  it  chronicles,  it  has  remain- 
ed unconsumed.  The  malignant  rage  of  Antiochus,  Decius, 
and  Diocletian,  and  the  labored  arguments  of  Celsus  and 
Porphyry,  have  been  equally  powerless  against  the  Word 
of  the  Lord.  In  modern  times,  the  philosophy  of  Hobbes, 
tne  sceptic  doubts  of  Bayle,  the  polished  sarcasm  of  Boling- 
broke,  the  subtlety  of  Hume,  the  learning  of  Gibbon,  the 
mockery  of  Voltaire,  and  the  vulgarity  of  Paine,  have  all 
proved  unable  to  invalidate  a  single  statement  of  the 
prophets  of  Israel  or  the  fishermen  of  Galilee.  Like  the 
ark  of  Noah,  upborne  and  protected  by  the  invisible  hand 
of  the  Almighty,  the  Bible  has  safely  ridden  "  the  resistless 
tide  which  has  set  m  from  the  birth  of  Time,"  and  which  is 
continually  overwhelming  man  and  his  works.  Commenced 
in  the  Arabian  desert  ages  before  Homer  sang,  and  finished 


TRIUMPHS    OF  THE   BIBLE.  15 

fifteen  hundred  years  afterward  on  an  island  in  the  uEgean 
Sea,  it  has  come  down  to  us  from  that  remote  antiquity 
unscathed  and  entire,  like  the  fabled  pillars  of  Seth,  which 
are  said  to  have  bid  defiance  to  the  flood  that  swept  all 
things  else  away.  As  Sir  Thomas  Browne  has  said,  "  The 
Bible  is  too  hard  for  the  tooth  of  time.  It  cannot  perish, 
but  in  the  general  flames,  when  all  things  shall  confess 
their  ashes."  "  The  grass  withereth,  and  the  flower  there- 
of falleth  away ;  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  endureth  for- 
ever." 

This  wonderful  preservation  presents  a  twofold  argu- 
ment for  the  Bible.  Its  heavenly  origin  is  vindicated  by 
the  intense  and  unremitting  hostility  it  has  encountered, 
and  by  its  success  in  overcoming  it.  For  it  is  impossible 
to  assign  that  hostility  to  any  other  cause  than  the  dis- 
closures which  it  makes  respecting  the  extreme  deadliness 
of  sin,  and  of  the  ineffable  purity  and  justice  of  the  Divine 
nature.  These  are  the  stumbling  blocks  which  have  in  all 
ages  elicited  the  enmity  of  the  human  heart  and  arrayed 
against  it  such  powerful  and  numerous  adversaries.  Let  it 
then  be  even  supposed  that  the  unaided  genius  of  man 
could  have  produced  such  a  volume  as  the  Bible,  display- 
ing, as  it  confessedly  does,  in  the  judgment  even  of  its 
enemies,1  such  sublimity  of  thought,  such  knowledge  of 
the  heart,  and  such  amazing  depth  of  wisdom ;  is  it  likely 
that  writers  of  so  extraordinary  capacity  would  have  given 
characteristics  to  their  work  which  render  it  an  object  of 
such  deep  and  widespread  aversion?  that  they  would 
have  been  so  weak  as  to  represent  God  and  human  nature 
in  characters  unpalatable  to  the  natural  man,  and  most  of 

i  The  infidel  Rousseau  was  constrained  to  utter  such  an  eulogium  as  the 
following :  "  The  majesty  of  the  Scriptures  strikes  me  with  astonishment. 
Look  at  the  volumes  of  all  the  philosophers,  with  all  their  pomp,  how  con- 
temptible do  they  appear  in  comparison  with  this !  Is  it  possible  that  a  book 
at  once  so  simple  and  sublime  can  be  the  work  of  man  ? " 


16  TRIUMPHS   OP  THE   BIBLE. 

all,  on  the  supposition  that  they  were  impostors,  unpala- 
table to  themselves?  Such  a  mixture  of  weakness  and 
wisdom,  we  must  at  once  see  to  be  incongruous  and  im- 
possible. 

And  the  fact  of  the  Bible's  preservation  in  the  midst  of 
all  this  hostility ;  that  it  should  stand  unto  this  day,  amid 
the  wreck  of  all  that  is  human,  substantially  entire  in  every 
part,  is  an  argument  for  its  divinity  which  no  sophistry  of 
infidelity  can  explain  or  overthrow.  "The  resistance  of 
ages  is  its  crowning  legitimation.  It  is  felt  and  feared  by 
all  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world.  It  is  the  visi- 
ble battle-field  of  invisible  forces,  showing  in  the  radiant 
faces  of  the  martyrs  who  have  died  for  it,  and  the  unearthly 
struggles  of  those  who  have  hunted  it  from  the  earth,  what 
mysterious  interests  are  suspended  on  its  safety  or  destruc- 
tion." "  For  could  we  but  see  a  volume  bearing  marks  of 
all  that  these  holy  oracle  shave  passed  through,  what  should 
we  behold  but  an  ancient  volume  exhibiting  signs  of  hav- 
ing been  at  one  time  trampled  on  by  rage,  at  another 
moth-eaten  by  neglect ;  now  interpolated  by  error,  then 
•erased  by  pride ;  here,  scorched  by  the  fires  of  bigotry ; 
there,  stained  with  the  venom  of  infidelity  ;  in  every  page, 
sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  its  martyred  defenders ;  and 
yet  so  substantially  entire  in  every  part  as  to  show  that  it 
has  always  been  in  the  keeping  of  Omnipotence — in  the 
hollow  of  His  hand." 

There  are  yet  other  considerations  germane  to  the  above 
argument,  which  yield  a  testimony,  perhaps  little  less  con- 
vincing, of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible.  "The  Scripture 
itself,"  says  Dean  Trench,  "  is  full  of  remembrances  of  its 
own  power.  He  who,  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  the  Church,  with  the  struggles  which  accompanied 
the  unfolding,  fixing,  and  vindicating  of  her  dogma, — he 
who,  furnished  with  this  knowledge,  passes  over  Scripture, 
may  in  some  moods  of  his  mind  pass  over  it  as  a  succession 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE  BIBLE.  17 

of  battle-fields.  He  may  be  likened  to  a  traveller  journey- 
ing through  some  land  which,  by  the  importance  of  its  posi- 
tion or  the  greatness  of  its  attractions,  has  drawn  contend- 
ing hosts  to  its  soil,,  and  been  a  battle  ground  for  innumer- 
able generations.  Besides,  hi  all  those  pages  which  speak 
more  directly  to  himself,  they  are  eloquent  to  him  with  a 
thousand  stirring  recollections.  For  at  every  step  which 
he  advances,  he  recognizes  that  which  has  been  the  motive 
of  some  mighty  and  long-drawn  conflict,  in  which  the  keen- 
est and  brightest  intellects,  the  kingliest  spirits,  the  Ber- 
nards and  the  Abelards  of  their  day,  were  engaged.  Here, 
there,  and  everywhere,  be  it  that  he  wanders  among  the 
extinguished  volcanoes  of  controversies  which  have  now 
burned  themselves  out,  or  among  those  which  are  flaming 
still,  he  meets  with  that,  to  maintain  their  conviction  about 
which,  men  have  been  content  to  spend  their  lives,  to  make 
shipwreck  of  their  worldly  hopes,  have  dwelt  in  deserts,  in 
caves,  and  in  dungeons,  yea,  gladly  have  encountered  all 
from  which  nature  most,  and  most  naturally  shrinks.  And 
whatever  there  may  have  been  of  earthly  and  of  carnal 
mingling  in  the  motives  of  the  combatants,  however  in  some 
of  them  he  can  recognize  only  the  champions  of  error,  yet 
in  these  mighty  and  passionate  strivings,  in  these  conflicts 
which  generation  has  bequeathed  to  generation,  he  reads 
the  confession  which  all  past  ages  have  borne,  that  this 
Word  was  worth  contending  for, — being  felt  by  those 
worthiest  to  judge,  dearer  than  life  itself,  and  such  that 
things  else  were  cheap  by  comparison  with  it."  •  , 

It  would,  however,  convey  a  very  imperfect  view  of  the 
triumphs  of  the  Bible,  if  we  confined  our  attention  to  its 
having  survived  the  ordeal  of  all-conquering  Time,  and 
escaped  uninjured  the  hostility  of  its  numerous  and  perse- 
vering enemies,  together  with  the  undying  interest  it  has 
excited  in  the  noblest  intellects  of  successive  generations. 
The  Bible  is  the  document  of  Christianity,  and  is  indeed 


18  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

identified  with  it ;  for  we  need  not  repel  the  imputation 
of  the  infidel,  though  intended  as  a  sneer,  that  ours  is  a 
','  Book  revelation."  The  wonderful  results  that  Book  has 
achieved,  and  is  still  achieving  in  the  world,  regarding  it  as 
the  armory  of  the  Church's  weapons,  or  rather  as  the  con- 
ductor of  those  holy  influences  through  which  the  Church 
has  won  all  her  triumphs,  afford  a  sufficient  reply,  as  well 
as  additional  and  unanswerable  demonstration  of  its  heaven- 
ly origin. 

First  among  these  is  the  propagation  of  Christianity. 
We  cannot  imagine  an  instrumentality  in  itself  more  utter- 
ly inadequate  to  the  effect,  than  when  the  first  preachers  of 
the  Gospel,  "  with  no  diadem  but  the  crown  of  thorns,  no 
sword  but  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  went  forth  to  subdue 
the  nations  to  the  obedience  of  Christ.  A  little  company 
of  poor,  friendless  fishermen,  what  were  they,  to  contend 
against  all  the  prejudices,  sins,  and  follies  of  mankind,  the 
weight  of  learned  authority,  the  advantages  of  birth,  the 
edicts  of  the  civil  power, — in  a  word,  against  the  combined 
hostility  of  the  world  ?  The  Gospel  was  a  stumbling  block 
to  the  Jew,  and  to  the  Greek  foolishness.  How  could  the 
haughty  Pharisee  and  the  worldly  minded  Sadducee  wel- 
come a  religion  which  destroyed  their  hopes  and  humbled 
their  pride  ?  which  required  them  to  recognize  the  promised 
Son  of  David  in  the  lowly  Nazarene,  and  renouncing  their 
delusive  expectations  of  earthly  conquest  and  dominion  un- 
der the  banner  of  Messiah,  to  embrace  a  life  of  poverty, 
self-denial,  and  persecution  ?  No  wonder  they  turned  from 
it  with  scorn  and  loathing.  Nor  were  less  difficulties  to  be 
encountered  in  the  Gentile  world.  There  a  cruel  and  licen- 
tious idolatry  reigned  supreme.  It  has  been  said,  indeed, 
that  the  spirit  of  Polytheism  was  "  mild  and  tolerant ; " 
which  being  granted,  it  might  be  inferred  that  in  it  Chris- 
tianity would  find  no  obstacle.  The  tolerance  of  the  hea- 
then, however,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Romans,  only  extended 


TRIUMPHS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  19 

to  the  occasional  adoption,  from  motives  of  imagined  inter- 
est, of  the  gods  of  the  countries  which  they  conquered, 
recognising  them  as  the  tutelary  deities  of  their  particular 
districts.  The  prevailing  sentiment  of  antiquity  was  that 
which  is  depicted  by  the  caustic  pen  of  Juvenal : 

"  Summus  utrinque 

Inde  furor  vulgo,  quod  numina  vicinorum 
Odit  uterque  locus,  quum  solus  credat  habendoa 
Esse  deos,  quos  ipse  colit."  l — Sat.  xv. 

The  crime  for  which  Socrates  suffered  martyrdom  in 
refined  and  polished  Athens,  was  the  promulgation  of  purer 
doctrines  concerning  God  and  Providence.  Cicero  but 
uttered  the  voice  of  Roman  opinion  when  he  pronounced 
it  "  among  the  most  necessary  laws  of  every  wise  state, 
that  no  one,  not  excepting  strangers,  should  be  allowed  to 
offer  worship  to  any  gods  excepting  such  as  had  received  a 
public  recognition."  If  the  religion  of  Jesus  could  have 
admitted  of  a  compromise— could  have  consented  on  the 
same  terms  with  the  worshippers  of  Isis  and  Mithras,  to 
share  the  empty  honors  of  a  statue  or  an  altar,  the  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  its  acknowledgment  might  have  been  over- 
come. But,  at  the  bidding  of  a  few  unlettered  men,  to 
displace  the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol  for  the  Crucified  of  Ju- 
dea— yea,  to  hurl  from  their  seats  all  the  deities  of  the 
Pantheon,  and  account  their  whole  religious  system, 
though  sanctioned  by  tradition,  hallowed  by  patriotism, 
and  radiant  with  unrivalled  attractions  of  poetry  and  art, 
as  a  tissue  of  fraud  and  fable,  this  was  a  requirement  which 

*  Between  two  neighboring  towns,  a  deadly  hate, 
Sprung  from  a  sacred  grudge  of  ancient  date, 
Yet  flames ;  a  hate  no  lenience  can  assuage, 
No  time  subdue,  a  rooted,  rancorous  rage ! 
Blind  bigotry,  at  first,  the  evil  wrought, 
For  each  despis'd  the  other's  gods,  each  thought 
Its  own  the  true,  the  genuine,  in  a  word, 
The  only  deities  to  be  adored."— GIFFOBD'S  Trans. 


20  TEIUMPHS   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

excited  the  astonishment  and  hatred  of  the  heathen  world, 
and  especially  incensed  the  pride  and  arrogance  of  Rome. 
In  the  schools  of  philosophy  also,  fresh  difficulties  were  to 
be  met.  Those  schools  were  at  this  time  more  frequented 
than  ever,  and  the  Portico  and  the  Grove  at  Athens  were 
the  acknowledged  thrones  of  the  intellectual  world.  Be- 
neath the  spell  of  the  subtile  and  dazzling  theories  which 
were  there  elaborated,  all  the  cultivated  minds  of  heathen- 
dom cringed  in  willing  thraldom.  How  vain  then,  appa- 
rently, to  expect  that  the  disciples  of  Plato  and  Aristotle 
would  exchange  their  lofty  speculations,  reaching  "  beyond 
the  utmost  bounds  of  human  thought,"  for  the  humbling 
tenets  of  a  religion  which  taught  that  "the  wisdom  of  this 
world  is  foolishness  with  God  ! "  Another  element  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  pure  and  uncompromising  Gospel,  was  found  in 
the  vices  of  an  age  which,  according  to  all  the  pictures  that 
have  been  drawn  of  it,  seems  to  have  exceeded  the  usual 
measure  of  corruption.  Amid  much  exterior  refinement, 
morality  was  unknown,  and  the  most  detestable  vices 
everywhere  prevailed.  The  world  was  one  great  temple 
of  pollution.  "  Darkness  covered  the  earth  and  gross 
darkness  the  people."  They  did  not  "  like  to  retain  God 
in  their  knowledge,"  and  He  had  given  them  up  to  a  "  rep- 
robate mind."  Statesmen,  philosophers,  and  priests,  not 
less  than  the  great  body  of  the  people,  were  shamelessly 
depraved.  Their  very  amusements,  the  gladiatorial  shows, 
eagerly  attended  by  women  as  well  as  men,  in  which  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  human  victims  were 

"  Butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday ! " 

sufficiently  prove  the  brutality  of  their  manners  and  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts.  These  human  victims,  be  it  also 
noted,  were  fed  on  a  succulent  diet  for  some  weeks  pre- 
vious to  the  exhibition,  in  order  that  their  veins,  being 
full,  might  bleed  more  freely,  for  the  greater  gratification 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  21 

of  the  spectators !  The  other  leading  nation  of  antiquity 
was  not,  indeed,  stained  with  the  cruelty  which,  it  has  been 
said,  asserted  the  presence  of  the  wolf's  milk  in  the  moral 
constitution  of  the  masters  of  the  world ;  but  Greeks  as 
well  as  Romans,  not  only  practised,  but  gloried  in  abomi- 
nations which  we  cannot  even  execrate  by  name.  Such 
was  the  character  of  nations  among  whom  the  arts  and 
literature  flourished ;  and  facts  confirm  what  might  reason- 
ably be  inferred,  that  nothing  could  be  found  in  barbarian 
lands  to  relieve  the  sombre  shades  of  the  picture.  If  with- 
out the  vices  of  a  corrupt  civilization,  other  nations  were 
under  the  spell  of  idolatries  far  more  revolting — 

"Things  worse 

Than  fables  yet  have  feigned  or  fear  conceived — 
Gorgons  and  hydras,  and  chimeras  dire." 

Where  science  and  literature  had  shed  their  light,  there 
was  a  point  of  approach,  something  to  which  the  teachers 
of  the  new  faith  could  appeal.  But  here  "  a  darkness  that 
might  be  felt,"  apparently  rendered  access  hopeless. 

When  we  consider  that  such  were  the  obstacles  to  be 
overcome,  and  contrast  with  them  the  intrinsic  feebleness 
of  the  instrumentality  employed,  nothing  would  appear 
more  hopeless  than  the  success  of  the  Gospel.  Yet  in  the 
face  of  all  this  complicated  opposition,  the  heralds  of  the 
Cross  went  forward  undaunted  and  undismayed.  They 
allowed  of  no  compromise  with  sin,  but  proclaimed  the 
wrath  of  God  against  all  "  ungodliness  and  unrighteous- 
ness of  men."  Mahomet  could  allure  followers  to  his 
standard  by  the  promise  of  a  paradise  of  sensuality ; l  but 

i  "  The  progress  of  Mahometanism  is  in  full  contrast,"  says  Bishop 
Wilson,  "  in  all  its  causes  and  characteristics,  with  that  of  the  Christian  faith. 
It  arose  in  the  seventh  century  among  a  warlike  people,  in  an  age  of  gross 
darkness ;  was  founded  by  a  person  of  one  of  the  best  families  of  his  country ; 
it  was  composed  of  Jewish  legends,  and  the  popular  superstitions  of  Arabia, 
mingled  with  sentiments  and  doctrines  gathered  from  the  Christian  Scrip- 


22  TRIUMPHS   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

they  required  their  disciples  to  "  crucify  the  flesh  with  the 
affections  and  lusts,"  and  to  "  follow  holiness."  They  en- 
forced upon  all,  without  distinction,  upon  Greek  and  bar- 
barian, bond  and  free,  learned  and  unlearned,  the  same 
necessity  of  seeking  pardon  through  a  crucified  Saviour 
and  the  relinquishment  of  every  other  ground  of  hope 
toward  God.  And  what  was  the  result?  Mighty  as 
were' the  obstructions,  and  seemingly  weak  and  inadequate 
as  were  the  instruments,  yet  those  weak  instruments  tri- 
umphed, and  those  obstructions  gave  way.  The  plant 
which  grew  out  of  a  dry  place  became  beautiful  and 
glorious;  and  the  stone  which  the  builders  rejected  was 
made  the  head  of  the  corner.  Ere  the  apostles  were  all  of 
them  gathered  to  their  rest,  "their  line  had  gone  out 
through  all  the  earth  and  their  words  to  the  ends  of  the 
world."  Before  a  century  had  elapsed,  Pliny,  writing  to 

tures ;  and  proposing  a  code  of  morals  comparatively  lax,  together  with  sen- 
sual and  voluptuous  recompenses — in  other  words,  it  was  a  religion  adapted 
to  the  corrupt  taste,  indulgent  to  the  passions,  and  modelled  to  the  ignorance 
of  the  times.  In  all  these  respects  it  illustrates,  by  the  contrast,  the  purity 
and  beneficence  and  sublimity  of  the  Christian  doctrine.  Mahomet,  further, 
was  entirely  destitute  of  credentials — no  miracles  were  even  alleged — he  pre- 
tended to  no  prophecies— no  seal,  therefore,  of  divine  authority  was  appended 
to  his  claims.  Whatever  success  then  may  have  attended  a  debased  and  vi- 
cious religion,  resting  on  no  one  attestation  of  a  divine  original,  but  simply 
courting  the  passions  of  an  age  of  ignorance  and  depravity,  can  never  be 
placed  in  competition  with  the  doctrine  of  Christianity.  But  Mahometau- 
ism,  be  it  noted,  had,  after  all,  no  success,  so  long  as  the  peaceful  means  of 
persuasion  and  argument  were  alone  employed ;  whereas  Christianity  con- 
verted the  whole  world  by  meek  instruction  and  patient  suffering.  Mahomet- 
anism  failed  of  making  any  progress,  till  it  renounced  the  arts  of  peace,  and 
unsheathed  the  sword.  The  design  of  the  Koran  was,  as  we  have  observed, 
not  to  propagate  a  religion  but  to  form  soldiers,  and  inspire  martial  courage ; 
and  it  was  in  this  way  that  it  obtained  prevalence  and  prosperity.  It  follow- 
ed in  the  train  of  armies  and  was  propagated  at  the  edge  of  the  scimitar. 
Such  a  contrast  displays  in  yet  brighter  lustre  the  mild  glory  of  that  doctrine 
which,  unaided  by  human  power,  and  in  the  midst  of  sufferings  and  contempt, 
surpassed,  in  the  extent  and  splendor  of  its  conquests,  all  the  sanguinary  con- 
versions of  the  false  prophet."— Evidences  of  Christianity,  vol.  i,  p.  225. 


TRIUMPHS    OF  THE  BIBLE.  23 

the  emperor  Trajan,  reports,  that  "  the  contagion  of  the 
superstition  had  seized,  not  cities  only,  but  the  lesser  towns 
also,  and  the  open  country ;  so  that  the  heathen  temples 
were  almost  forsaken ;  few  victims  were  purchased  for  sa- 
crifice, and  a  long  intermission  of  the  sacred  rites  had, 
taken  place."  The  most  refined  and  remorseless  cruelty 
was  employed  by  the  Roman  tyrants  to  stay  the  progress 
of  the  "  superstition,"  but  in  vain.  Fifty  years  after  Pliny 
wrote,  Tertullian,  addressing  the  rulers  of  the  empire,  could 
affirm :  "  We  were  but  of  yesterday,  and  have  filled  your 
cities,  islands,  towns,  and  boroughs,  the  camp,  the  senate, 
and  the  forum.  They  (the  heathen  adversaries  of  Chris- 
tianity) lament  that  every  sex,  age,  and  condition,  and  per- 
sons of  every  rank  also,  are  converts  to  that  name."  Tor- 
ture and  death  were  employed  with  redoubled  zeal,  but 
"  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was  still  the  seed  of  the  Church," 
until  at  length  the  hard-fought  field  was  won.  Within 
three  centuries  from  the  death  of  Christ,  the  triumphant 
banner  of  the  Cross  was  erected  on  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol, 
and  the  fanes  of  heathenism,  purified  from  their  idolatries, 
became  temples  of  the  Christian's  God.  And  not  only  were 
the  oracles  hushed,  and  Jupiter  and  Apollo  with  their 
Olympian  compeers  driven  from  their  shrines, — now 

— "  Domos  Ditis  vacuas  et  mania  regna." — jEn.  vi,  269. 

but  philosophy  yielded  her  proud  pretensions  to  that  "  light 
divine,"  which  alone  can  guide  the  pilgrim  of  earth  on  his 
dim  and  perilous  way.  Not  only  the  outcast,  the  poor, 
and  the  ignorant,  but  the  learned  and  the  gifted,  the  men 
of  intellectual  might,  surrendered  their  most  cherished 
convictions,  and  renounced  all  hopes  of  worldly  advance- 
ment, to  embrace  a  faith  whose  rewards  are  beyond  the 
tomb.  "  Spain  heard  the  Gospel  voice  ;  far-off  Britain,  and 
those  northward  and  inclement  Scandinavian  shores,  which 
the  lordly  Roman  shivered  when  he  named,  listened  to  its 


24  TRIUMPHS   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

call;  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  and  North  Africa  had  apostolic 
missionaries;  Gaul  bowed  to  the  Cross;  the  inhuman 
superstitions  of  the  Druids  faded  before  its  gentle  lessons ; 
the  bloody  war-gods  of  the  Goths  were  given  up  for  the 
rule  of  the  Prince  of  Peace ;  wild  Arab  tribes  and  fierce 
men  of  Parthia  and  Bactria  were  among  the  converts ; 
India  was  not  so  distant,  but  some  gleams  of  that  primitive 
light  reached  her  coral  strand;  many  a  strange  tongue 
swelled  the  Church's  anthems ;  and  the  noble  army  of 
martyrs  bore  the  blood-sprinkled  banner  farther  than  im- 
perial legions  had  ever  carried  the  victorious  standards  of 
Rome." 

Yet  the  infidel  would  account  for  this  wide-ext ended 
spiritual  conquest  by  the  operation  of  merely  human  means. 
The  historian  Gibbon  has  exhausted  his  learning  and  ability 
in  endeavoring  to  assign  causes,  which,  apart  from  super- 
natural agency  accompanying  the  preaching  of  the  Word, 
would  explain  so  mighty  a  revolution.  But  they  are  mani- 
festly inadequate.  Not  "  the  intolerant  zeal  of  the  Chris- 
tians," or  "the  clear  development  of  the  doctrine  of  another 
life,"  or  "  the  miraculous  powers  ascribed  to  the  primitive 
Church,"  or  "  the  pure  and  austere  morals  of  its  members," 
or  even  "  the  new  discipline  of  the  Christian  Community," 
can  account  for  the  fact  that  a  religion  which  entered  the 
world  at  a  most  inauspicious  period,  supposing  it  to  be  an 
imposture — which  had  not  one  principle  in  common  with 
the  religions  which  then  obtained — propagated  by  a  few 
obscure  persons,  universally  despised  and  hated,  opposed 
from  the  very  first  by  Jew  and  Gentile,  and  especially  by 
those  who  held  the  seats  of  power  and  influence — a  religion 
hostile  to  human  opinion,  human  prejudice,  human  interest? 
and  human  nature,  should  have  triumphed  over  ah1  oppo- 
sition, and,  after  the  lapse  of  eighteen  centuries,  still  have 
maintained  its  ground.  Surely  we  are  warranted  by  every 
sound 'principle  of  reason  in  inferring,  that  such  an  effect 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  25 

must  be  due  to  supernatural  power.  "  A  flame  living  on 
the  very  bosom  of  the  deep,  opposed  by  all  the  winds  of 
heaven,  often  obscured,  nearly  extinguished,  always  re- 
sisted, yet  rising  from  apparent  exhaustion  and  decay 
into  new  brightness,  enlarging  the  circle  on  which  it  shines 
age  after  age,  and  smiling  on  the  elements  which  are  bat- 
tling against  its  existence,  must  be  sustained  by  ethereal 
fires." 

Had  the  great  work  gone  on  according  to  its  glori- 
ous commencement,  the  world  would  have  been  won, 
long  ages  since,  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  Long  since  would 
He  who  "tasted  death  for  every  man"  have  been  ac- 
knowledged and  adored  by  all.  But  too  soon  the  Gos- 
pel's triumphant  career  was  checked.  Though  there  were 
in  every  age  zealous  witnesses  for  the  truth — for  never 
has  the  lamp  of  God  gone  out  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord 
— yet  as  a  whole,  the  Church  became  unfaithful  to  her 
trust,  ceased  to  make  war  on  the  territories  of  sin  and 
death,  and  a  night  of  a  thousand  years  overshadowed  the 
earth. 

That  long  night  passed  away,  and  Zion  has  risen  from 
the  dust.  Her  slumbering  energies  have  been  again  aroused 
to  grapple  with  the  mighty  work  committed  to  her  by  her 
ascended  Lord.  With  the  dawn  of  the  present  century, 
she  again  set  forth  on  her  errand  of  mercy,  and  has  pledged 
herself  to  rest  no  more,  until  the  world  has  been  leavened 
with  the  truth  and  won  for  Christ.  And  gladdening  results 
have  shown  that  the  Gospel  is  still  mighty  through  God 
to  the  pulling  down  the  strongholds  of  sin  and  Satan. 
Wherever  the  Cross  has  been  lifted  up,  it  has  still  proved 
a  "  conquering  sign,"  and  from  the  region  and  shadow  of 
death,  among  the  dark  places  of  the  earth  and  the  habita- 
tions of  cruelty,  has  won  its  triumphs  and  its  trophies  as  of 
old.  Look  in  what  direction  we  may,  the  horizon  of  hope 
2 


26  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

enlarges  and  brightens.  The  ancient  systems  of  idolatry 
and  superstition  have  become  effete,  Mahometanism  wanes 
and  "  the  Cross  alone  is  crescent."  Much  land  indeed  re- 
in aineth  to  be  possessed,  and  to  a  merely  human  view,  the 
obstacles  which  still  impede  the  universal  triumph  of  the 
Gospel  would  even  now  seem  insuperable.  So  arduous  are 
the  difficulties  yet  to  be  overcome,  so  numerous  are  the 
strongholds  yet  to  be  overthrown,  that  the  enterprise 
which  aims  at  such  a  result  must  appear  to  a  worldly 
mind  more  than  all  others  romantic,  chimerical,  and  absurd. 
But  the  Christian  is  encouraged  to  believe  that  the  same 
Power  which  of  old  wrought  such  wonders  through  feeble 
instrumentalities,  is  now,  in  like  manner,  preparing  to 
achieve  a  triumph  vastly  more  glorious.  It  has  been  said 
that  "  the  Old  Book,  the  Book  of  our  Redeemer's  gift  and 
our  fathers'  faith,  ....  has  been  gradually  ascending ; 
taking  to  it  new  tongues,  spreading  open  its  page  in  every 
land,  printed  in  Chinese  camps,  pondered  in  the  Red  man's 
wigwam,  sought  after  in  Benares,  a  school  book  in  Feejee, 
eagerly  bought  in  Constantinople,  loved  in  the  kloofs  of 
Kaffir  land ;  while  the  voices  of  the  dead  from  Assyria  to 
Egypt  have  been  lifted  up  to  bear  it  witness."  What 
earthly  or  infernal  might  can  arrest  its  progress  or  hin- 
der its  predicted  triumph?  "It  shall  come — that  long- 
expected  hour — when  Christianity  is  to  attain  universal 
dominion.  The  march  around  Jericho  shall  have  an  end ; 
the  mystic  seven  shall  all  have  been  reckoned;  and  then 
shall  God  specially  inspire  the  Church  with  a  spirit  of  ex- 
pectation and  prayer,  so  that  a  loud  shout  shall  be  rais- 
ed, as  though,  in  ceasing  to  weary  earth  with  their  tread, 
the  thousands  had  resolved  to  invade  heaven  with  their 
voices.  And  God  will  answer  the  cry  of  His  people.  He 
will  recompense  that  patient  trust  which  has  been  dis- 
played, century  after  century,  in  the  encompassing  the 
city,  and  assailing  it  with  no  carnal  weapons.  On  a  sud- 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  27 

den  shall  there  be  a  mighty  interference ;  the  temples  of 
idols  shall  crumble  into  dust;  every  form  and  feature  of 
falsehood  shall  vanish  away ;  every  household  and  every 
heart  shall  be  a  shrine  for  Christian  truth ;  and  when  the 
vast  revolution  is  surveyed,  and  its  producing  cause  de- 
manded by  those  who  would  understand  the  dealings  of 
God,  the  answer — the  triumphant  answer  will  be :  "  By 
faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  when  they  were  com- 
passed about  seven  days." 

"  The  powers  of  darkness  on  the  hills  afar 

Watch  for  the  sun,  and  bend  the  listening  ear 

To  catch  the  rumbling  of  the  distant  car, 
And  ever  and  anon  start  lip  in  fear, 
As  echo  whispers  of  his  coming  near. 

Hark !  how  they  wail  their  tottering  shrines  around, 
Warning  the  slumbering  idols  as  they  go. 

See,  pale  and  trembling  at  the  distant  sound, 
Baal  boweth  down,  and  Nebo  stoopeth  low, 
And  haughty  Dagon  wails  his  final  overthrow." 

An  argument  akin  to  the  foregoing,  yet  distinct  from 
it,  is  found  in  the  temporal  benefits  which  Christianity  has 
already  conferred  upon  the  world.  These  still  further 
illustrate  the  triumphs  and  vindicate  the  divinity  of  the 
Bible.  Facts  innumerable  can  be  adduced  to  prove  that, 
in  whatever  place  and  under  whatever  circumstances 
man's  lot  may  be  cast,  he  needs  the  Gospel,  even  that  he 
may  participate  in  the  comforts  and  blessings  of  the  present 
life. 

In  order  that  the  strength  of  this  argument  may  be 
adequately  demonstrated,  it  will  be  necessary  to  take  a 
fuller  and  more  comprehensive  view  of  a  subject  already 
briefly  glanced  at,  in  enumerating  the  active  elements  of 
opposition  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  We  have 
only  to  compare  the  two  most  polished  and  refined  of 


28  TRIUMPHS    OP  THE   BIBLE. 

ancient  nations  with  modern  and  Christian,  in  order  to  per- 
ceive what  the  religion  of  the  Bible  can  accomplish  even 
for  the  present  welfare  of  man. 

The  materials  for  the  comparison  are  derived  from  the 
valuable  Boyle  lectures  of  Mr.  Harkness,  in  which  every 
particular  statement  is  verified  by  references  to  standard 
classical  authorities. 

"  Athens,"  says  Mr.  H.,  "  was  acknowledged  to  have 
been  the  most  lenient  government  of  antiquity.  Yet  the 
mind  that  is  refined  to  gentleness  and  pity  by  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel,  can  scarcely  bear  to  dwell  on  the  ruthless  exer- 
cise of  dominion,  which  is  exhibited  in  the  pages  of  its 
history.  The  tyranny  exercised  by  the  Athenian  people 
over  those  who  were  subject  to  their  control,  surpasses 
description  or  belief.  No  accumulations  of  reproachful 
epithet,  or  opprobrious  metaphor,  could  compass  their 
savage  abuses  of  authority.  The  despotism  of  one  is  bad : 
but  the  despotism  of  many  is  incalculably  worse.  Not  to 
mention  their  wanton  acts  of  cruelty,  of  caprice,  of  aggres- 
sion, and  of  injustice,  which  were  as  familiar  with  them — 
perhaps  more  familiar — than  with  any  of  the  most  sanguin- 
ary tyrants,  whose  names  are  infamous  in  the  annals  of 
mankind ;  but  to  confine  myself  strictly  to  the  enormities, 
which  originated  in  their  political  morals,  we  shall  find  by 
looking  at  the  conduct  of  that  brilliant  people,  that  the 
vaunted  democracy  of  Athens  was  animated  by  all  the  self- 
ish passions,  was  directed  by  all  the  narrow  principles,  was 
supported  by  all  the  ignominious  arts  and  iniquitous  pre- 
cautions, which  characterize  the  dominion  of  the  despot. 
No  Dionysius  or  Agathocles  ever  exhibited  a  more  timid 
and  ungenerous  suspicion  of  his  subjects,  or  followed  up 
his  suspicions  with  more  of  the  oppressive  vigilance  of 
terror.  Riches  were  objects  of  jealousy :  they  might  be 
made  the  means  of  obtaining  too  commanding  an  influence 
in  the  republic ;  -and  the  wealthy  existed,  therefore,  in  a 


TEIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  29 

state  of  constant  persecution  and  alarm.  '  While  I  had 
riches,'  says  Charmides,  '  I  was  obliged  to  caress  every  in- 
former. Some  imposition  was  continually  laid  upon  me; 
and  I  was  never  allowed  to  travel  or  be  absent  from  the 
city.  Now  I  am  poor,  I  look  big,  and  threaten  others  ;  the 
rich  are  afraid  of  me  ;  I  am  become  a  kind  of  tyrant  in  the 
city.' l  Fame  was  an  object  of  jealousy  :  nothing  of  excel- 
lence, or  wealth,  or  reputation,  might,  with  impunity,  over- 
top the  level  of  the  democracy.  The  unrelenting  people 
proscribed  every  superiority  as  a  thing  of  dangerous  conse- 
quence. The  same  cautious  politics  produced  the  Ostra- 
cism of  Athens,  and  the  Petaleuin  of  Syracuse,  and  expelled 
every  citizen  whose  fame  or  power  overtopped  the  rest. 
Virtue  was  an  object  of  jealousy;  and  so  susceptible  was 
the  prudence  of  their  tyranny,  that  it  instigated  them  to 
attack  even  the  honorable  distinctions  which  recompense 
superior  integrity  and  purity  of  life  ;  and  Aristides  was 
banished  for  the  celebrity  of  his  justice." 

Hume,  in  his  Essays,  gives  the  following  account  of  an 
accomplished  Athenian  :  "  I  think  I  have  fairly  made  it 
appear,  that  an  Athenian  man  of  merit  might  be  such  a 
one  as  with  us  would  pass  for  incestuous,  a  parricide,  an 
assassin,  an  ungrateful  perjured  traitor,  and  something  else 
too  abominable  to  be  named  ;  not  to  mention  his  rusticity 
and  ill  manners.  And,  having  lived  in  this  manner,  his 
death  might  be  entirely  suitable ;  he  might  conclude  the 
scene  by  a  desperate  act  of  self-murder,  and  die  with  tho 
most  absurd  blasphemies  in  his  mouth.  And,  notwith- 
standing all  this,  he  shall  have  statues,  if  not  altars,  erected 
to  his  memory ;  poems  and  orations  shall  be  composed  in 
his  praise  ;  great  sects  shall  be  proud  of  calling  themselves 
by  his  name ;  and  the  most  distant  posterity  shall  blindly 
continue  their  admiration.  Though,  were  such  a  one  to 

1  Xenophon,  Banquet  of  Socrates. 


30  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

arise  among  themselves,  they  would  justly  regard  him  with 
horror  and  execration." 

To  exhibit  a  corresponding  picture  of  Roman  manners, 
Mr.  H.  presents  his  readers  with  the  observations  of  a 
Christian  stranger,  who  might  have  visited  Rome  in  the 
first  century  after  our  Saviour's  ministry  on  earth : 

"  The  door  of  the  house  in  which  he  is  received,  to  the 
distress  of  every  Christian  sentiment,  is  opened  by  a  chain- 
ed slave.  He  is  conducted  to  the  master  of  the  house,  who 
is  at  supper,  and  is  invited  to  take  a  place  at  the  banquet. 
Instead  of  that  liberal  equality  which  has  been  introduced 
by  the  general  prevalence  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  and 
which  has  smoothed  the  irregularities  of  society,  and  ren- 
dered persons  of  a  more  distinguished  opulence  and  rank 
attentive  to  the  sensibilities  of  the  poorer  and  more  hum- 
ble classes  of  society,  he  finds  the  inferior  guests  studiously 
reminded  of  their  subordinate  condition,  removed  to  a 
distance  from  the  luxurious  table  of  the  master  of  the  feast, 
aud  insulted  by  the  offensive  coarseness  of  their  entertain- 
ment. During  a  scene  of  the  greatest  gluttony  and  in- 
temperance, he  is  opprest,  as  the  spirits  of  the  party 
become  elevated,  by  the  most  appalling  licentiousness  of 
conversation.  A  father  speaks  of  the  difficulty  he  had 
found  in  persuading  his  wife  to  the  murder  of  their  new 
born  infant.  The  young  men  boast  of  their  successful 
rapes,  their  perilous  adulteries,  or  their  unnatural  attach- 
ments. Disgusted  with  these  appalling  circumstances,  the 
Christian  visitor  might  omit  remarking  on  the  unbridled 
^sensuality  with  which  his  new  companions  surrender  them- 
selves to  the  protracted  pleasures  of  the  table,  as  if  to  eat 
were  the  first  privileges  of  existence,  and  they  had  arti- 
ficially increased  their  appetites,  that  they  might  lengthen 
their  capacity  of  indulgence.  Wearied  of  such  society,  he 
retires  to  his  chamber,  but  not  to  rest ;  for  his  repose  is 
broken  by  the  noise  of  whips  and  lashes,  and  the  cries  of 


TBIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  31 

the  chastised  slaves,  whom  the  master  of  some  neighboring 
mansion  is  rigorously  correcting.  In  the  morning  he  pre- 
pares to  accompany  his  host  to  the  exhibitions  of  the 
Circus.  As  they  are  departing  from  the  house,  an  aged 
and  half-starved  slave  timidly  endeavors  to  elude  their 
observation  ;  he  is  detected  ;  his  master  notices  his  infirmi- 
ties, and  orders  that  he  should  no  longer  be  retained  as  an 
unprofitable  expense  and  incumbranceto  his  household,  but 
should  be  exposed  to  die  of  starvation,  in  recompense  for 
the  labors  of  his  youth.  The  Christian  remonstrates  against 
this  act  of  cruelty ;  he  assures  his  host  that  not  a  single 
individual  of  his  own  religion  would  be  guilty  of  such  bar- 
barity,  even  to  one  of  the  inferior  creatures — to  the  aged 
hound,  or  the  drooping  war  horse — if  it  had  been  service- 
able to  his  interests  or  his  amusements.  The  heathen  can- 
not comprehend  his  sentiments.  He  informs  his  guest  that 
this  is  the  usual  method  of  disposing  of  all  superannuated 
domestics ;  that  some  masters  suffer  them  to  starve  to 
death  about  their  houses ;  that  others  leave  them  to  perish 
on  an  island  in  the  Tiber ;  that  others  cast  them  alive  into 
their  preserves  to  fatten  their  fish  ;  that,  in  short,  the  prac- 
tice was  universal  among  his  countrymen,  and  adopted 
without  remorse,  sanctioned  by  the  example  of  the  illus- 
trious Cato,  and  one  from  which,  as  it  was  extremely  con- 
venient, he  could  see  no  reason  for  departing.  The  Chris- 
tian is  silenced ;  they  proceed  to  the  theatre.  On  their 
way,  they  pass  a  company  of  Patrician  youths,  one  of  whom 
is  on  the  point  of  exhibiting  his  dexterity  in  the  use  of  the 
broad-sword.  A  poor  wretch,  suffering  from  the  deep 
afflictions  of  domestic  misery,  has  been  bribed,  by  the  offer 
of  a  few  mina3,  to  devote  himself  as  the  victim  of  the  bar- 
barous experiment,  on  condition  that  the  necessities  of  his 
family  should  be  relieved  by  the  stipulated  purchase-money 
of  his  murder.  They  arrive  at  the  Coliseum.  There  is 
great  difficulty  in  securing  situations.  Nearly  forty  thou- 


32  TRIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

sand  persons  are  already  impatiently  assembled.  It  is  a  day 
of  extraordinary  expectation.  Many  celebrated  gladiators 
are  to  be  brought  on  the  arena.  It  is  anticipated  that 
some  hundreds  will  be  slaughtered  in  the  various  conflicts 
which  are  appointed  to  succeed  each  other  in  the  progress 
of  the  entertainment ;  but  a  more  than  usual  curiosity  and 
interest  is  excited  for  those  contests,  in  which  the  ill-fated 
wretches  are  to  be  exposed  in  opposition  to  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  desert  or  the  forest,  as  on  this  occasion  the  lions  and 
the  panthers  have  been  fed  on  human  flesh,  for  the  purpose 
of  sharpening  their  thirst  of  blood,  and  stimulating  the  keen- 
ness of  their  ferocity.  Unable  to  sustain  the  sight — while 
the  first  victim  is  expiring,  unpitied  and  unregarded,  amid 
the  thunders  of  acclamation  that  reward  the  exertions  of 
his  competitor — the  Christian  visitor  of  the  heathen  capital 
hastily  withdraws  himself  from  the  scene  of  sanguinary  festi- 
val. He  is  immediately  followed  by  his  host,  who  ridicules 
his  compassion  on  the  authority  of  the  most  approved  phi- 
losophers, and  interrupts  his  eloquent  lamentations  over  the 
departure  of  the  ancient  virtue  and  simplicity  of  the  Roman 
character,  by  assurances,  that  the  people  have  not  degene- 
rated ;  that  vice  may  have  varied  in  its  form,  but  not  increas- 
ed in  magnitude ;  that  its  ratio  has  been  permanent  and 
equal ;  and  that,  whatever  enormities  may  have  been  engen- 
dered of  power  and  luxury  and  refinement,  at  all  events, 
those  ruder  ages  could  never  be  deserving  of  regret,  during 
which  a  supposed  pestilence,  that  appeared  to  be  depopulat- 
ing the  city,  was  discovered  to  be  effected  by  the  prevalency 
of  the  art  of  poisoning ;  a  practice  which  was  so  accordant 
to  the  morals  and  sentiments  of  the  people,  that  the  praetor 
in  a  single  province,  after  having  capitally  punished  three 
thousand  persons  for  the  offence,  still  complained  of  the 
increasing  number  of  the  accusations. 

"  In  the  above  sketch  of  the  private  morals  of  the  ancient 
Romans,  I  have  studiously  cast  a  veil  over  that  horrible  and 


TEIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  33 

undisguised  impurity  which  saturated  the  whole  body  of 
society;  which  haunted  the  precincts  of  their  temples; 
which  mingled  with  their  religious  rites  and  festivals; 
which  so  frequently  made  the  subject^of  their  conversation 
and  their  poetry;  which  addressed  the  grossness  of  the 
public  mind  in  the  signs  exhibited  in  their  streets,  and  in 
the  monuments  that  defiled  their  gardens,  and  of  which  the 
images  were  constantly  before  the  eyes,  to  pollute  and  debase 
the  soul,  engraved  on  the  common  utensils  of  daily  existence, 
on  their  lamps  and  their  vases  and  their  drinking  vessels." 

Such  was  the  social  condition  of  those  celebrated  nations, 
ere  the  Gospel  had  put  forth  among  them  its  renovating 
power  and  purified  the  fountains  of  domestic  life.  In  the 
monuments  of  sanctified  benevolence  alone  with  which 
Christian  lands  are  studded,  we  have  abundant  evidence  of 
the  tendency  of  Christianity  to  confer  blessings  upon  man. 

"  Her  coming  found  the  heathen  world  without  a  single 
house  of  mercy.  Search  the  Byzantine  Chronicles  and  the 
pages  of  Publius  Victor ;  and  though  the  one  describes  all 
the  public  edifices  of  ancient  Constantinople,  and  the  other 
of  ancient  Rome,  not  a  word  is  to  be  found  in  either  of  a 
charitable  institution.  Search  the  ancient  marbles  in  your 
museums ;  descend  and  ransack  the  graves  of  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii ;  and  question  the  many  travellers  who  have 
visited  the  ruined  cities  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  and  see,  if 
amid  all  the  splendid  remains  of  statues  and  amphitheatres, 
baths  and  granaries,  temples,  aqueducts  and  palaces,  mauso- 
leums, columns  and  triumphal  arches,  a  single  fragment  or 
inscription  can  be  found,  telling  us  that  it  belonged  to  a 
refuge  for  human  want,  or  for  the  alleviation  of  human 
misery."  *  All  the  asylums  on  earth  for  poverty,  decrepi- 

1  Dr.  Harris's  "  Great  Commission."    The  progress  of  the  moral  triumph 

which  Christianity  ultimately  achieved  in  Rome  is  thus  finely  delineated  in 

the  great  work  of  Dean  Milman  :  "  Rome  must  be  imagined  in  the  vastness 

and  uniformity  of  its  social  condition,  the  mingling  and  confusion  of  races, 

2* 


34  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

tude  and  disease,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  the 
Bible.  Yet  this  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  benefits  it  has 
conferred  on  all  those  countries  where  it  has  been  received 
and  according  to  the  degree  in  which  it  has  prevailed. 
What  but  the  religion  of  the  Bible  has  banished  vices  and 
abominations  of  classic  Paganism,  practised  and  avowed  by 
the  great  and  the  respected,  to  hide  themselves  from  pub- 
lic scorn,  if  they  still  exist  upon  earth?  What  else  has 
abolished  serfdom  in  modern  Europe,  and  is  bringing  on 
the  time,  slowly  it  may  be,  but  surely,  when  whatever  ine- 
qualities of  condition  may  still  exist,  man  shall  universally 
recognize  a  brother  in  man  ?  1  And  though  it  has  not  yet 
made  wars  to  cease,  what  else  has  softened  war's  horrors 
and  rendered  comparatively  unheard  of  the  barbarities  of 

languages,  conditions,  in  order  to  conceive  the  slow,  imperceptible,  yet  con- 
tinuous progress  of  Christianity.  Amid  the  affairs  of  the  universal  empire, 
the  perpetual  revolutions  which  were  constantly  calling  up  new  dynasties,  or 
new  masters  over  the  world,  the  pomp  and  state  of  the  imperial  palace,  the 
commerce,  the  business  flowing  in  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  bustle  of 
the  Basilicas,  or  courts  of  law,  the  ordinary  religious  ceremonies,  or  the  more 
splendid  rites  on  signal  occasions,  which  still  went  on,  if  with  diminishing 
concourse  of  worshippers,  with  their  old  sumptuousness,  magnificence  and 
frequency,  the  public  games,  the  theatres,  the  gladiatorial  shows,  the  Lucul- 
lan or  Apician  banquets,  Christianity  was  gradually  withdrawing  from  the 
heterogeneous  mass  some  of  all  orders,  even  slaves,  out  of  the  vices,  the  ig- 
norance, the  misery  of  that  corrupted  social  system.  It  was  instilling  hu- 
manity, yet  unknown,  or  coldly  commended  by  an  impotent  philosophy, 
among  men  and  women  whose  infant  ears  had  been  habituated  to  the  shrieks 
of  dying  gladiators  ;  it  was  giving  dignity  to  minds  prostrated  by  years,  al- 
most centuries,  of  degrading  despotism  ;  it  was  nurturing  purity  and  modes- 
ty of  manners  in  an  unspeakable  state  of  deprivation  ;  it  was  enshrining  the 
marriage-bed  in  a  sanctity  long  almost  entirely  lost,  and  rekindling  to  a 
steady  warmth  the  domestic  affections ;  it  was  substituting  a  simple,  calm 
and  rational  faith  and  worship  for  the  worn-out  superstitions  of  heathenism  ; 
gently  establishing  in  the  soul  of  man  the  sense  of  immortality,  till  it  became 
a  natural  and  inextinguishable  part  of  his  moral  being."  Latin  Christianity, 
vol.  i,  p.  26. 

1  "  Christianity,"  the  profound  De  Tocqueville  has  remarked,  "  is  the 
companion  of  liberty  in  all  its  conflicts — the  cradle  of  its  infancy,  and  the 
divine  source  of  its  claims." 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  35 

former  conflicts  ?  What  has  raised  the  female  sex  from  the 
degraded  position  which  they  still  occupy  in  lands  unblessed 
with  the  light  of  revelation  ?  What  has  united  liberty  and 
law,  and  thrown  a  sanction  and  security  around  the  rights 
and  possessions  of  the  weak  and  the  defenceless,  the  widow 
and  the  orphan,  which  did  not  formerly  exist  ?  What  has 
shed  such  benign  efficacy  on  the  social  relationships  of  life, 
on  the  ties  which  bind  together  husband  and  wife,  parent 
and  child,  and  thus  made  "  home  "  a  sacred  electric  word  ? 
The  only  answer  that  can  be  given  is,  that  it  is  the  religion 
of  the  Bible  which  has  scattered  such  countless  blessings  in 
its  path.  Nothing  else  will  explain  these  beneficent  changes 
but  the  cause  which  the  eminent  Chancellor  Kent  thus  as- 
signs :  "  The  influence  of  Christianity  has  been  very  efficient 
toward  the  introduction  of  a  better  and  more  enlightened 
sense  of  right  and  justice  among  the  several  governments 
of  Europe.  It  taught  the  duty  of  benevolence  to  strangers, 
of  humanity  to  the  vanquished,  of  the  obligation  of  good 
faith, — of  the  sin  of  murder,  revenge,  and  rapacity.  The 
history  of  Europe,  during  the  earlier  periods  of  modern 
history,  abounds  with  interesting  and  strong  cases,  to  show 
the  authority  of  the  Church  over  turbulent  princes  and 
fierce  warriors,  and  the  effect  of  that  authority  in  melior- 
ating manners,  checking  violence,  and  introducing  ?i  system 
of  morals  which  inculcated  peace,  moderation,  and  justice."1 
Where  the  Bible  is  unknown,  man  is  still  sunk  in  debasing 
ignorance,  idolatry  and  superstition,  "without  God  and 
without  hope  in  the  world."  Where  it  is  unknown,  woman 
is  still  degraded  and  enslaved,  and  infanticide  and  other 
crimes  against  nature,  are  tolerated  if  not  enjoined.  Wher- 
ever it  has  come,  like  the  healing  gale  of  spring  changing 
the  scene  of  wintry  desolation  into  one  of  life  and  loveliness, 
it  has  caused  the  moral  desert  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the 
rose.  It  has  renovated  the  character  of  individuals,  fami- 

»  Kent's  Commentaries,  vol.  i,  p.  9. 


36  TEIUMPHS   OP  THE  BIBLE. 

lies,  and  nations ;  and  in  the  proportion  in  which  its  influ- 
ence has  been  felt,  it  has  banished  sin  and  misery  from  the 
abodes  of  men.  "  Give  me,"  said  the  old  Christian  father 
Lactantius,  "  a  man  who  is  choleric,  abusive  in  his  language, 
headstrong  and  unruly ;  with  a  very  few  words, — the  words 
of  God, — I  will  render  him  as  gentle  as  a  lamb.  Give  me  a 
greedy,  covetous,  parsimonious  man,  and  I  will  presently 
return  him  you  a  generous  creature,  freely  bestowing  his 
money  by  handfuls.  Give  me  a  cruel  and  bloodthirsty 
man;  instantly  his  ferocity  shall  be  transformed  into  a 
truly  mild  and  merciful  disposition.  Give  me  an  unjust 
man,  a  foolish  man,  a  sinful  man ;  and  on  a  sudden  he  shall 
become  honest,  wise,  and  virtuous.  So  great  is  the  efficacy 
of  divine  wisdom  when  once  admitted  into  the  human 
heart."  In  what  innumerable  instances  has  that  pledge 
been  redeemed !  Bringing  with  it  "  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,"  as  well  as  "  of  that  which  is  to  come,"  Chris- 
tianity diffuses  order  and  happiness  over  the  whole  surface 
of  human  society,  and  even  adds  features  of  additional  love- 
liness to  the  scenery  of  nature.  "  The  swamp  and  the  mo- 
rass disappear  before  the  labors  of  industry  and  the  habita- 
tions of  men.  The  pride  of  cities  and  the  monuments  of  art 
now  dazzle  and  surprise,  where  nothing  was  once  beheld  but 
the  rude  cairn,  piled  in  loneliness  and  silence  to  mark  the 
scene  consecrated  to  infernal  offerings,  and  rights  of  pollu- 
tion and  death.  Temples  and  palaces  glitter  amidst  the 
waste,  and  commerce  gladdens  with  her  ships,  her  harbors 
and  her  merchandise,  shores  once  abandoned  to  solitude 
and  desolation.  Ferocity  gives  place  to  gentleness,  steril- 
ity to  beauty ;  and  while  it  changes  the  desert  into  fruitful- 
ness,  it  elevates  the  savage  into  a  man."  And  all  this  is 
even  now  being  exemplified.  In  lands  which  but  a  few 
years  since  lay  in  heathen  darkness — where  devils  were 
worshipped  and  crime  was  hallowed — where  men  roved  un- 
tamed as  the  beasts  of  their  forests,  and  revelled  in  deeds 


TRIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  37 

of  cruelty  and  bloodshed, — under  the  auspices  of  Christian 
missionaries,  this  blessed  transformation  may  even  now  be 
seen.  Thousands  of  once  wretched  beings,  emerging  from 
their  moral  degradation,  at  this  moment  are  ascribing  their 
enfranchisement  to  that  benign  interposition.  The  rude 
Bushman  of  South  Africa,  the  painted  savage  of  Polynesia, 
advanced  to  the  privileges  and  blessings  of  civilized  life,  are 
living  witnesses  of  what  the  religion  of  the  Bible  can  accom- 
plish even  for  man's  temporal  welfare.  And  if  a  tree  is 
known  by  its  fruits,  may  we  not  confidently  point  to  such 
effects  as  a  proof  which  can  not  be  controverted,  of  the 
divinity  of  its  origin?  "Men  do  not  gather  grapes  of 
thorns  or  figs  of  thistles." 

It  is  true  that  compared  with  the  vastness  of  the  field 
for  which  it  is  designed,  the  beneficial  effects  of  Christianity 
are  as  yet  but  limited,  and  there  is  much  in  the  present  as- 
pect and  condition  of  the  world  to  counterbalance  the  aus- 
picious signs  of  progress.  "  Contrary  to  rash  expectations, 
gleams  of  light  and  hope,  alternating  with  massive  clouds 
and  shadows,  have  passed  over  the  stage  of  the  civilized 
world  like  dissolving  views,  one  melting  into  another,  fleet- 
ing by  while  we  are  gazing,  and  that  so  swiftly,  that  we  are 
kept  in  breathless  uncertainty  what  will  come  next."  When, 
indeed,  we  consider  the  unrest  and  turbulence  which  during 
the  present  age  have  characterized  the  most  civilized  nations 
— the  outbreakings  of  human  passion  and  lawlessness  that 
have  threatened  the  demolition  of  the  social  fabric — "  the 
winds  and  the  waves  roaring  and  men's  hearts  failing  them 
for  fear," — it  would  at  times  even  seem  that  we  were  re- 
ceding from  rather  than  approaching  a  brighter  day.  But 
seen  in  the  light  of  prophecy,  these  apparently  disastrous 
omens  indicate  that  the  long  deferred  hope  of  ages  is  hasten- 
ing to  its  fulfilment.  The  groan  and  travail  of  the  world 
will  yet  have  a  glorious  consummation !  Through  all  the 
seething  fermentation  which  society  exhibits,  and  which  is 


38  TEIUMPHS    OP   THE   BIBLE. 

a  consequence  of  the  emancipation  of  the  general  mind  from 
blind  unreasoning  acquiescence  in  whatever  wore  the  sem- 
blance of  authority,  under  the  ever  present  agency  and  con- 
trol of  that  Divine  Spirit  who  of  old  brooded  over  Chaos, 
the  process  still  goes  on,  which  is  to  bring  it  to  its  destined 
form  and  law.  The  mission  of  the  Bible  will  be  accom- 
plished— its  ideal  be  realized.  "  The  chemist  has  his  solu- 
tion that  requires  but  one  added  drop  to  bring  out  its  crys- 
tals, yet  that  solution  may  grow  purer  and  purer,  and  so  at 
the  moment  of  completion  may  form  a  finer  gem  than  had 
it  come  before.  So  also  year  by  year  one  error  after 
another  is  precipitated  and  the  world's  thought  grows 
clearer,  though  it  cannot  rest,  until  at  length  the  magic 
moment  of  the  Bible's  spiritual  alchemy  will  arrive,  when 
its  hand  shall  drop  the  living  truth,  and  the  waiting  world 
shall  flash  into  solid  order  and  crystalline  beauty."  l  The 
last  vestiges  of  sin  and  misery  shall  then  disappear,  and 
throughqpt  a  regenerated  earth  shall  arise  "  scenes  surpass- 
ing fable"  to  bear  witness  that  its  work  is  done.  "For 
as  the  rain  cometh  down  and  the  snow  from  heaven,  and 
return eth  not  thither,  but  water eth  the  earth,  and  maketh 
it  bring  forth  and  bud  ....  so  shall  My  word  be  that 
goeth  forth  out  of  My  mouth ;  it  shall  not  return  unto  Me 
void  ....  instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir  tree, 
and  instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle  tree." 

"Methought  there  were  long  ages  come  and  gone, 
Pale  worlds  were  crumbling  to  their  last  decay. 
Far  in  the  East  a  coming  glory  shone, 
And  morning  broke,  the  morning  of  that  day 
Never  again  to  set ;  a  slanted  ray 
Bridged  earth  and  heaven  with  its  quivering  flame, 
Thereon    an  angel  trod  his  rushing  way, 

i  For  the  above  beautiful  illustration,  I  am  indebted  to  a  speech  of  remark- 
able power  delivered  before  the  Am.  Bible  Society,  by  the  late  Rev.  A.  D.  R. 
Mercein,  a  gifted  minister  of  the  Methodist  Communion. 


TEIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  39 

And  folding  a  white  wing  and  flashing  came, 

Sounded  a  golden  blast,  and  hastened  to  proclaim,-  *• 

*'  Glory  to  God,  salvation  and  release  ! 
Tell  it  among  the  nations,  tell  it  wide, 
*  Glory  to  God  on  high,  on  earth  be  peace.' 
So  shouted  he,  so  sang ;  from  side  to  side, 
'  Amen !  Amen  ! '  the  morning  stars  replied ; 
The  winds  were  heralds  of  their  minstrelsy, 
The  clouds  upbore  it  till  the  echoes  died, 
Answered  the  billowy  voices  of  the  sea, 
And  utmost  earth's  acclaim  formed  meet  antistrophe." 
Cambridge  Prize  Poem. 

By  J.  S.  GIBSON. 

But  we  also  claim  for  the  Bible,  that  not  only  is  it  the 
great  almoner  of  temporal  blessings  to  mankind,  alleviating 
the  lot  of  the  afflicted,  the  destitute  and  the  oppressed,  not 
only  is  it  the  civilizer  of  manners  and  elevator  of  morals, 
but  it  has  been  the  great  agent  of  man's  intellectual  advance- 
ment. Inquire  where  intelligence  is  most  diffused  among 
the  people,  where  the  arts  and  sciences  have  made  the 
greatest  advancement,  where  literature  is  most  cultivated 
and  progress  the  most  realized,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  favored  lands  are  those  in  which  the  Bible  is  circulated 
and  has  most  obtained  sway. 

It  is  true  that  long  previous  to  the  Christian  era,  and 
among  nations  upon  whom  the  light  of  revelation  had  not 
dawned,  a  high  state  of  civilization  had  been  attained. 
There  were  in  the  old  classic  world,  poets  of  undying  fame, 
philosophers  of  wonderful  subtilty  and  profundity  of 
thought,  orators  whose  eloquence  still  transmits  its  thrill- 
ing echoes  down  "  the  corridors  of  time ; "  there  were 
magnificent  works  of  art  and  stately  palaces  and  temples, 

"Skill  of  noblest  architects, 

With  gilded  battlements  conspicuous  far, 
Turrets  and  terraces,  and  glitt'ring  spires. 


40  TRIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Many  a  fair  edifice  besides,  more  like 

,.  Houses  of  gods,     *****    pillars  and  roofs, 

Carv'd  work,  the  hand  of  fam'd  artificers 
In  cedar,  marble,  ivory,  or  gold." — Paradise  Regained. 

No  brighter  eras  of  intellectual  achievement  have  since 
appeared  than  the  ages  of  Pericles  and  Augustus.  The 
lays  of  Homer  and  Virgil — the  orations  of  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero — the  histories  of  Thucydides  and  Tacitus — the  Par- 
thenon, the  Venus  de  Medici  and  the  Apollo  Belvidere, 
are  still  types  of  ideal  excellence  in  Literature  and  in  Art. 
"The  poetic  legend,  the  gleaming  marble,  the  pillared 
temple,  the  speaking  statue, — the  graceful  robe,  the  mystic 
fillet,  the  tragic  cothurnus,  the  symbolic  procession,  the 
bearded  pontiff,  the  mighty  orator,  the  crowned  monarch, 
the  visioned  sage, — the  charm  of  the  scenery,  the  clearness 
of  the  atmosphere,  the  beauty  of  the  climate,  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  multitude, — dome  bending  itself  to  the  azure 
concave  above  it,  pediment  sculptured  with  the  dreams  of 
the  classic  antiquity, — the  intermixture  of  all  with  the  insti- 
tutions of  education  and  policy, — its  ever  present  recollec- 
tion in  gymnasium  as  well  as  sanctuary, — the  romance  and 
pageant, — the  exhaustion  of  taste,  genius,  and  splendor 
upon  its  fables  and  ceremonies, — even  to  our  times,  consti- 
tute the  ancient  Paganism  a  marvel  of  all  that  was  attrac- 
tive and  magnificent."  l  But  in  all  that  refined  culture  and 

*  Prize  Essay  on  Christian  Missions  by  Dr.  Hamilton,  of  Leeds.  In  this 
connection,  a  very  remarkable  but  undeniable  historical  fact  may  be  stated, 
which  certainly  claims  a  place  among  the  ''difficulties  of  Infidelity:" 
"  Whilst  all  the  surrounding  world  lay  immersed  in  the  profoundest  moral 
darkness ;  whilst  Egypt,  which  has  been  celebrated  as  the  instructress  of 
mankind,  lay  grovelling  before  her  oxen,  her  birds,  her  reptiles,  and  her 
potherbs;  whilst  Grecian  and  Roman  altars,  even  at  a  moment  when  heathen 
refinement  was  at  its  highest,  were  smoking  before  the  emblems  of  the  gross- 
est appetites  and  of  the  rankest  intemperance ; — there  in  an  obscure  corner 
of  the  globe,  overlooked  and  despised  by  the  surrounding  nations,  was  to  be 
seen  the  astonishing  spectacle  of  one  small  people,  with  no  literature  but 
their  own  sacred  books,  no  arts  but  those  derived  from  a  most  limited  and 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  41 


splendid  civilization,  there  was  a  worm  at  the  core,- 
vital,  irremediable  defect.  As  unconsciously  but  signifi- 
cantly expressed  in  the  Athenian  symbol  of  the  golden 
grasshopper,  it  was  of  the  earth  earthy.  This  world  and 
its  regalements  for  the  life  of  sense,  were  its  all.  The 
beautiful  was  there  in  an  unequalled  development,  but  it 
lacked  the  good  and  the  true.  "  There  was  no  provision 
for  the  wants  of  the  inner  man.  Heathenism  had  no  line 
to  reach  the  depths  of  human  depravity,  and  no  power  to 
raise  up  man  from  his  degradation,  to  break  the  spell  by 
which  he  was  bound  to  sensual  objects,  and  to  set  his  spirit 
free.  It  had  no  object  of  religious  worship  fitted  to  call 
forth  love,  veneration,  gratitude;  and  no  body  of  truth 
that  could  be  instrumental  in  purifying  and  ennobling  man's 
mental  powers,  in  connecting  him  with  the  higher  world, 
and  renewing  him  after  the  image  of  God."  Some  portion 
of  primitive  truth  and  traditional  morality  it  had  indeed 
possessed,  and  while  this  was  retained,  it  was  the  salt  which 
kept  it  from  corruption,  the  cement  which  held  it  from 
dissolution.  But  when,  by  the  increase  of  luxury  and  vice, 
these  had  become  obliterated,  then  literature,  philosophy 
and  art,  all  hastened  to  decay.  The  fire  went  out  upon  its 
altars.  Destitute  of  those  higher  influences  which  Christian 
faith  alone  can  supply,  it  was  like  a  magnificent  structure 
built  upon  the  sand,  and  when  the  barbarian  torrent  came, 
it  was  already  tottering  to  its  fall. 

But  from  the  first,  the  religion  of  the  Bible  proved  itself 
to  be  the  true  element,  both  of  intellectual  progress  and 
conservation.  Even  amid  the  decaying  embers  of  the 
ancient  civilization,  it  kindled  a  flame  which  gave  evidence 

unwilling  intercourse  with  their  neighbors,  celebrating  as  they  had  done  for 
ages  the  praises  of  the  great  unseen  immaterial  Creator  of  the  universe,  in 
sentiments  the  justness  and  sublimity  of  which  poetry  in  her  highest  flights 
has  never  to  this  day  been  able  to  equal,  nor  philosophy  in  her  utmost  pride 
of  discovery  to  improve." — BISHOP  SHUTTLEWORTH. 


42  TRIUMPHS    OF  THE   BIBLE. 

of  its  heavenly  descent.  Dispelling  the  gloom  which  had 
rested  on  the  future,  it  supplied  fresh  motives  for  the  exer- 
cise of  the  mental  powers,  roused  faculties  which  had  long 
lain  dormant,  and  gave  vitality  to  reason  and  thought. 
The  master  spirits  of  the  world  soon  ranged  themselves  on 
its  side,  and  after  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
with  few  exceptions,  the  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome  is 
to  be  looked  for  in  the  pages  of  the  Christian  fathers  alone. 
With  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among  the  various 
nations  of  Europe,  knowledge  was  its  inseparable  attendant. 
The  most  assiduous  cultivators  of  learning  in  those  early 
ages  were  the  pioneers  and  advocates  of  the  Gospel.  In 
the  fourth  century  Ulphilas,  bishop  of  the  Moesian  Goths, 
introduced  a  written  language  as  well  as  translated  the 
Scriptures  into  the  vulgar  tongue  for  his  illiterate  country- 
men. And  so  great  was  their  improvement  under  his  in- 
structions, that  some  of  the  Goths  soon  made  such  attain- 
ments as  to  be  able  to  compare  their  version  with  the 
Latin,  the  Greek,  and  the  Hebrew  originals.  Before  the 
Gospel  was  brought  to  its  shores  in  the  fifth  century,  Ire- 
land was  almost  utterly  uncivilized.  Its  natives  were  with- 
out an  alphabet,  and  rude  ballads  committed  to  memory 
were  the  only  vehicles  to  preserve  any  knowledge  of  their 
history  and  antiquities,  the  genealogies  of  their  kings  and 
the  exploits  of  their  heroes.  The  ability  to  recite  a  num- 
ber of  these  verses  was  considered  as  a  high  accomplish- 
ment, and  the  bard  who  made  any  addition  to  them  was 
certain  of  fame  and  reward.  The  coming  of  Christian  mis- 
sionaries, however,  redeemed  them  from  ignorance,  and  so 
rapid  was  their  progress  that  in  the  next  age  Ireland  was 
called  the  country  of  saints  and  of  learned  men.  During 
the  eighth  and  the  early  part  of  the  ninth  centuries,  when 
learning  had  been  driven  from  her  ancient  seats,  Ireland 
was,  as  Aldhelm,  Bede,  and  Carnden  inform  us,  "  the  sacred 
mart  of  letters,"  whither  "  troops  of  scholars  were  daily 


TKIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  43 

transported  to  be  initiated  by  her  learned  masters  in  the 
treasures  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics  and  of  divine 
knowledge."  And  with  Ireland,  let  lona  also  be  mention- 
ed, designated  by  Johnson  as  "-that  illustrious  island,  which 
was  once  the  luminary  of  the  Caledonian  regions,  where 
savage  clans  and  roving  barbarians  derived  the  benefits  of 
knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  religion."  Nor  was  Eng- 
land reclaimed  from  barbarism  until  the  conversion  of  her 
Saxon  conquerors  in  the  sixth  century  to  Christianity. 
"When,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  the  fierce  tribes  of 
Hengist  and  Horsa  were  persuaded  to  exchange  "  dark  idol 
prayer  and  hoarse  battle-cry"  for  the  "hallelujahs"  of 
Christian  worship  ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  did  the  "  sceptred 
isle  "  enter  upon  the  career,  to  be  made  so  illustrious  by 
the  masters  of  science  and  of  song. 1  The  Danes,  Swedes, 
and  Cimbri  of  the  North,  were  still  in  heathen  ignorance, 
when,  in  the  ninth  century,  Ansgarius,  the  chief  apostle  of 
the  Scandinavians,  came  to  bring  them  the  Gospel  and  to 
establish  schools  for  the  instruction  of  their  youth.  During 
the  same  century,  two  Greek  monks,  Cyril  and  Methodius, 
sons  of  Leo,  a  Greek  nobleman,  were  the  instruments  not 
only  of  Christianizing,  but  of  civilizing  the  Bulgarians, 
Moravians,  and  Bohemians.  To  the  zeal  of  these  mission- 
aries, were  those  nations  indebted  for  an  alphabet  as  well 
as  for  the  knowledge  of  revealed  truth.  So  late  as  the 
latter  part  of  the  ninth  century,  the  people  of  Russia  were 

i  The  civilization  of  the  Roman  conquerors  of  ancient  Britain  in  the  course 
of  four  centuries  had  made  so  little  impression  on  its  inhabitants  that  in  the 
reign  of  Constantino  that  famous  island  was  regarded,  says  Macaulay,  in  the 
polished  East  "  with  mysterious  horror— a  region  inhabited  by  the  ghosts  of 
the  departed,  where  the  ground  was  covered  by  serpents,  and  the  air  was 
such  that  no  man  could  inhale  it  and  live." 

The  successors  of  the  Romans  were  the  savage  worshippers  of  Woden, 
and  until  the  Gospel  of  Christ  came  to  them,  "  England  knew  no  church 
within  the  limits  of  their  sway,  but  the  temple  of  an  idol ;  no  priesthood  but 
that  of  Paganism ;  no  god  but  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  some  hideous  image." 
Sermon  preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  A.  D.  1573. 


44  TEIUMPHS    OP  THE  BIBLE. 

still  in  savage  barbarism,  nor  were  they  rescued  from  it 
until  the  teachers  of  Christianity  brought  with  them,  at  the 
same  tune,  the  Gospel  and  letters,  the  rudiments  of  the 
arts,  of  law  and  of  order.  And  thus  with  all  the  once  bar- 
barous nations  of  Europe;  their  introduction,  to  letters  was 
simultaneous  with  their  conversion  to  Christianity. 

When  it  is  considered  that  these  intellectual  triumphs 
accompanying  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  were  achieved 
during  those  centuries,  when  a  night  of  ignorance,  deep  as 
Egyptian  darkness,  had  settled  over  the  dismembered  frag- 
ments of  the  Roman  Empire,  we  must  feel  that  the  great 
historian  only  utters  the  voice  of  truth  when  he  says :  "  The 
Church  has  many  times  been  compared  by  divines  to  the 
ark  of  which  we  read  in  the  book  of  Genesis ;  but  never 
was  the  resemblance  more  perfect  than  during  that  evil 
time  when  she  alone  rode,  amidst  darkness  and  tempest, 
on  the  deluge  beneath  which  all  the  great  works  of  ancient 
power  and  wisdom  lay  entombed,  bearing  within  her  that 
feeble  germ  from  which  a  second  and  more  glorious  civili- 
zation was  to  spring.'-*  1  As  the  barbarian  flood  receded, 
the  seeds  proceeding  from  that  "  feeble  germ "  were  scat- 
tered over  the  new  and  virgin  soil  which  it  left.  Gradual- 
ly, with  whatever  perversions  and  admixtures,  the  trutl^ 
and  principles  of  the  Bible  were  diffused  among  the  rising 
nations,  and  thus  was  a  foundation  laid  for  social  and  civil 
advancement.  By  a  necessary  consequence,  intelligence 
was  quickened  and  learning  revived;  this  effect  reacted  upon 
Christianity,  and  we  know  from  History  that  the  daybreak 
of  letters  was  coeval  with  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation. 
When  the  long  night  was  passed,  the  sun  of*  righteousness 
and  the  sun  of  science  rose  together,  and  to  that  blending 
and  interfusing  of  moral  and  spiritual  with  intellectual  light, 
the  marvellous  career  of  the  human  mind  which  was  then 
inaugurated,  and  the  triumphs  of  research  and  discovery 
1  Macaulay's  History  of  England. 


TEIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  45 

which  have  made  illustrious  the  ages  since,  must  be  ascribed. 
For  the  greatest  boon  of  the  Reformation  was  to  remove 
the  Papal  Interdict  from  the  Bible  and  bring  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  people.  And  what  was  the  effect  of  this  upon 
literature?  It  is  indisputable  that  "the  study  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue  by  the  mass  of  the  people, 
and  by  scholars  in  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  was  the 
initiatory  step  to  various  other  departments  of  knowledge, 
and  led  to  investigations  in  History,  Laws,  Geography,  and 
Antiquities,  not  less  than  in  Theology.  Amid  the  intellec- 
tual excitement  thus  occasioned,  principles  were  evolved, 
destined  to  change  the  face  of  society, — to  lead  society  for- 
ward to  the  great  discoveries  of  modern  times,  and  to 
impart  to  literature  a  degree  of  vigor,  originality,  and  in* 
fluence  on  the  progress  of  society  hitherto  unexampled." 
And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  There  are  a  power  and 
majesty  breathing  from  the  sacred  page  which  must  needs 
have  expanded  and  ennobled  the  mind  once  emancipated 
from  the  errors  of  superstition.  Its  sublime  doctrines,  its 
pure  and  lofty  precepts,  imposing  as  they  then  were  from 
their  novelty  as  well  as  from  their  grandeur,  could  not  fail 
to  have  taken  the  strongest  hold  upon  the  intellect,  the 
imagination  and  the  heart,  upon  every  faculty  and  every 
affection  of  our  nature.  The  surpassing  literary  attractions 
of  the  Bible,  moreover,  were  well  fitted  to  strengthen  and 
deepen  the  impression.  "The  Scriptures  contain,"  says 
Sir  William  Jones  (whose  competency  to  pronounce  such  a 
judgment  cannot  be  impugned),  "independently  of  a  di- 
vine origin,  more  true  sublimity,  more  exquisite  beauty, 
purer  morality,  more  important  history,  and  finer  strains 
of  poetry,  than  could  be  collected  within  the  same  compass, 
from  all  other  books  that  were  composed  in  any  age,  or  in 
any  idiom."  Here  was  opened  a  poetic  fountain  more  in. 
spiring  far  than  any  at  which  the  Grecian  Muse1  ever  drank. 

i  There  is  a  fine  passage  in  the  preface  to  Cowley's  Davideis  on  the  un- 
rivalled superiority  of  the  sacred  oracles,  which  may  here  be  cited :  "  What 


46  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE    BIBLE. 

Another  accomplished  scholar  1  says, — "  In  lyric  flow  and 
fire,  in  crushing  force,  in  majesty  that  seems  still  to  echo 
the  awful  sounds  once  heard  beneath  the  thunder-clouds 
of  Sinai,  the  poetry  of  the  ancient  Scriptures  is  the  most 
superb  that  ever  burned  within  the  breast  of  man.  The 
picturesque  simplicity  of  their  narration  gives  an  equal 
charm  to  the  historical  books.  Vigor,  beauty,  sententious- 
ness,  variety,  enrich  and  adorn  the  ethical  parts  of  the  col- 
lection." "What  is  there  equal  in  romantic  interest  to  the 
story  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren ;  of  Rachel  and  Laban,  of 
Jacob's  dream,  of  Ruth  and  Boaz,  the  descriptions  in  the 
book  of  Job,  the  deliverance  of  the  Jews  out  of  Egypt,  or 
the  account  of  their  captivity  and  return  from  Babylon  ? 
There  is  in  all  these  parts  of  Scripture,  and  numberless 
more  of  the  same  kind,  to  pass  over  the  Orphic  hymns  of 
David,  the  prophetic  denunciations  of  Isaiah,  or  the  gorgeous 
visions  of  Ezekiel,  an  originality,  a  vastness  of  conception,  a 
depth  and  tenderness  of  feeling,  a  touching  simplicity  in  the 
mode  of  narration,"  2  unmatched  and  unapproachable  even 
by  classical  antiquity.  The  whole  story  of  redeeming  love, 
the  Son  of  God  incarnate,  the  cradle  and  the  manger,  the 
cross  and  the  crown  in  heaven,  the  spiritual  warfare  and 

can  we  imagine  more  proper  for  the  ornaments  of  wit  aud  learning,  in  the 
story  of  Deucalion,  than  in  that  of  Noah?  Why  will  not  the  actions  of  Sam- 
son afford  as  plentiful  matter  as  the  labors  of  Hercules  ?  Why  is  not  Jephthah's 
daughter  as  good  a  woman  as  Iphigenia?  and  the  friendship  of  David  and 
Jonathan  more  worthy  celebration  than  that  of  Theseus  and  Pirithous?  Does 
not  the  passage  of  Moses  and  the  Israelites  into  the  Holy  Land  yield  incom- 
parably more  poetic  variety  than  the  voyages  of  Ulysses  or  ^Eneas  ?  Are 
the  obsolete,  threadbare  tales  of  Thebes  and  Troy  half  so  stored  with  great, 
heroical,  and  supernatural  actions  (since  verse  will  needs  find  or  make  such), 
as  the  wars  of  Joshua,  of  the  Judges,  of  David,  and  divers  others?  Can  all 
the  transformations  of  the  gods  give  such  copious  hints  to  flourish  and  expa- 
tiate upon,  as  the  true  miracles  of  Christ,  or  of  his  prophets  and  apostles? 
What  do  I  instance  in  these  few  particulars  ?  All  the  books  of  the  Bible  are 
either  already  most  admirable  and  exalted  pieces  of  poesy,  or  are  the  best 
materials  in  the  world  for  it." 

>  Sir  Daniel  K.  Sandford.  a  Hazlitt. 


TRIUMPHS    OF  TH-E   BIBLE.  47 

the  final  triumph,  when  his  people  shall  reign  with  Christ, 
are  fraught  with  deeper  wonder  and  sublimer  romance, 
than  ever  thought  of  man  conceived.  They  are  replete 
with  poetic  as  well  as  with  evangelic  inspiration.  "  Indited 
under  the  influence  of  Him,  to  whom  all  hearts  are  known, 
and  all  events  foreknown,  they  suit  mankind  in  all  situa- 
tions, grateful  as  the  manna  which  descended  from  above 
and  conformed  itself  to  every  palate.  The  fairest  produc- 
tions of  human  wit,  after  a  few  perusals,  like  gathered 
flowers  wither  in  our  hands,  and  lose  their  fragrancy ;  but 
these  unfading  flowers  of  Paradise  become,  as  we  are  ac- 
customed to  them,  still  more  and  more  beautiful;  their 
bloom  appears  to  be  daily  heightened,  fresh  odors  are 
emitted,  and  new  sweets  extracted  from  them."  Here  at 
Siloa's  brook  and  not  at  the  Pierian  spring,  Dante  and  Mil- 
ton drank  their  copious  draughts  of  unearthly  sublimity, 
and  were  animated  for  their  noblest  flights.  Here  Michael 
Angelo  and  Raphael  filled  their  golden  urns,  and  by  their 
labors,  Art  emancipated  from  the  sensualism  of  Pagan 
dreams,  vindicated  her  heavenly  origin. 

That  was  indeed  a  timely  vindication,  and  the  result 
was  a  triumph  of  Scripture  truth  deserving  of  special  com- 
memoration. For  although  the  revival  of  art  and  literature 
in  Europe  was  under  Christian  auspices,  yet  at  the  era  of 
the  Reformation,  the  classical  school  had  become  the  ruling 
power  in  both,  and  no  themes  but  those  of  Greek  and 
Roman  story  were  thought  worthy  to  employ  the  powers 
of  genius.  This  reaction  is  thus  accounted  for  by  Henry 
Heine  in  his  work  on  German  literature :  "  The  arts  are 
nothing  but  the  mirrors  of  life,  and  as  Catholicism  was 
extinguished  in  life,  so  also  did  it  grow  faint  and  die  away 
in  art  ....  A  contemporary  Protestantism  at  that  time  was 
stirring  in  art  equally  as  in  life  ....  It  was  then  as  if  men 
felt  themselves  suddenly  freed  from  an  oppression  of  a 
thousand  years ;  the  artists  above  all  breathed  freely  again, 


48  TRIUMPHS   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

as  the  Alp  of  Catholicism  seemed  rolled  from  the  breast ; 
they  plunged  enthusiastically  into  the  sea  of  Greek  glad- 
ness, out  of  whose  foam  the  Goddess  of  Beauty  again 
emerged  for  them  ;  the  painters  painted  again  the  ambro- 
sial joy  of  Olympus,  the  sculptors  chiselled  again,  with  the 
same  pleasure  as  of  old,  the  ancient  heroes  out  of  the  marble 
block ;  the  poets  celebrated  again  the  house  of  Atreus  and 
Laius  ;  the  period  of  the  new  classical  poetry  arose." 

Yet  vain  was  the  endeavor  to  impart  spirit  and  life 
to  the  faded  forms  and  shadows  of  antiquity.  "  Phoebus' 
chariot  course  was  run,"  Pan  was  dead,  the  sacred  fire  of 
Vesta  could  not  be  rekindled.  But  the  unequalled  pro- 
ductions of  the  mighty  masters  who  sleep  in  Santa  Croce 
and  the  Pantheon,  proved  that  the  true  Promethean  spark 
was  in  the  Bible,  and  that  art  lost  nothing  by  becoming 
Christian,  even  though  all  the  mythic  fancies  which  "  live 
no  longer  in  the  faith  of  reason,"  should  vanish  into  the 
mists  of  the  past. 

"  Then  sculpture  and  her  sister  arts  revive, 
Stones  leaped  to  form  and  rocks  began  to  live  ; 
With  sweeter  notes  each  rising  temple  rung, 
A  Raphael  painted  and  a  Vida  sung." — POPE. 

Thus  was  the  returning  wave  of  classicism  arrested, 
and  now  what  Homer  was  in  the  ancient  world,  that  has 
the  Bible  become  in  the  modern,  in  relation  to  poetry  and 
all  the  imitative  arts — the  inspiring  source  of  beauty  and 
sublimity — the  model  and  archetype  of  expression.  Under 
its  influence  modern  art  has  developed  a  power  to  minister 
to  the  desire  of  the  elevated  and  the  beautiful,  which  the 
boasted  productions  of  the  classic  school,  and  even  such  of 
the  chef-d'ceuvres  of  antiquity  as  have  come  down  to  us, 
cannot  approach.  "  Look,"  says  an  eloquent  writer,  "  at 
the  sepulchral  monuments  of  Grecian  art — the  frigid  mys- 
teries, the  abhorrent  ghosts,  yet  too  corporeal,  shrinking 
from  Lethe,  and  the  dismal  boat — the  unpromising,  un- 


TRIUMPHS   OF  THE   BIBLE.  49 

pitying  Charon  :  then  turn  to  some  of  the  sublime  Christian 
monuments  of  art  that  speak  so  differently  of  that  death — 
the  coronation  of  the  virgin,  the  ascension  of  saints.  The 
dismal  and  the  doleful  earth  has  vanished — choirs  of  angels 
rush  to  welcome  and  support  the  beatified,  the  released  : 
death  is  no  more,  but  life  breathing  no  atmosphere  of  earth, 
but  all  freshness,  all  joy,  and  all  music ;  the  now  changed 
body  glowing,  like  an  increasing  light,  into  its  spirituality 
of  form  and  beauty,  and  thrilling  with 

"That  undisturbed  song  of  pure  consent, 

Aye  sung  before  the  sapphire-color'd  throne 

To  him  that  sits  thereon," — 

Then  shall  we  doubt,  and  not  dare  to  pronounce  the 
superior  capabilities  of  Christian  art,  arising  out  of  its  sub- 
ject-poetry ?  We  prefer,  as  a  great  poetic  conception, 
Raphael's  Archangel,  Michael,  with  his  victorious  foot 
upon  his  prostrate  adversary,  to  the  far-famed  Apollo 
Belvidere,  who  has  slain  his  Python ;  and  his  St.  Marga- 
ret, in  her  sweet,  her  innocent,  and  clothed  grace,  to  that 
perfect  model  of  woman's  form,  the  Venus  de  Medici.  Not 
that  we  venture  a  careless  or  misgiving  thought  of  the 
perfectness  of  those  great  antique  works  :  their  perfectness 
was  according  to  their  purpose.  Higher  purposes  make  a 
higher  perfectness.  ISTor  would  we  have  them  viewed 
irreverently ;  for  even  in  them,  and  the  genius  that  pro- 
duced them,  the  Creator,  as  in  "  times  past,  left  not  Him- 
self without  witness."  In  showing  forth  the  glory  of  the 
human  form,  they  show  forth  the  glory  of  Him  who  made 
it,  who*is  thus  glorified  in  the  witnesses ;  and  so  we  accept 
and  love  them.  But  to  a  certain  degree  they  must  stand 
dethroned,  their  influence  faded.  Graces  and  Muses  in 
their  perfectness  of  marbled  beauty,  what  are  they  to  faith, 
hope,  and  charity,  and  the  veiled  virtues  that  like  our 
angels  shroud  themselves  ?  These  virtues  of  the  soul,  far 
greater  in  their  humility,  in  the  sacred  poetry  of  our 
3 


UMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 


Christian  faith,  shine  like  stars,  even  in  their  smallness  on 
the  dark  night  of  our  humanity ;  and  they  are  to  take  place 
in  the  celestial  of  art ;  and  we  feel  that  it  is  His  will,  who, 
as  the  hymn  of  the  blessed  Virgin — that  type  of  all  these 
united  virtues — declares,  "  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from 
their  seat,  and  hath  exalted  the  humble  and  the  meek." 1 

The  triumphs  which  Christianity  has  achieved  in  Liter- 
ature and  Art,  were,  in  the  beginning  of  her  career,  the 
least  to  have  been  expected.  In  the  felicitous  words  of 
Dean  Trench  :  "  How  many  things  Christianity  might,  at 
first  sight,  have  threatened  to  leave  out,  to  take  no  note  of, 
or  indeed  utterly  to  suppress,  which,  so  far  from  really 
warring  against,  it  has  raised  to  higher  perfection  than 
ever  in  the  old  world  they  had  attained.  With  what 
despair,  for  example,  a  lover  of  art,  one  who  at  Athens  or 
at  Rome  fondly  had  dwelt  among  the  beautiful  creations 
of  poet  and  of  painter,  |jfould  have  contemplated  the  rise 
of  the  new  religion,  and  the  authority  which  its  doctrines 
were  acquiring  over  the  hearts  and  spirits  of  men.  What 
a  death-knell  must  he  have  heard  in  this  to  all  in  which  his 
soul  so  greatly  delighted.  He  might  have  been  ready,  per- 
haps, to  acknowledge  that  our  human  life,  under  this  new 
teaching,  would  be  more  rigorously  earnest,  more  severe, 
more  pure ;  but  all  its  grace  and  its  beauty,  all  which  it 
borrowed  of  these  from  the  outward  world,  he  would  have 
concluded,  had  been  laid  under  a  ban,  and  must  now  vanish 
forever  ....  Little,  indeed,  could  friend  or  foe  of  the 
nascent  faith,  have  forecast  that  out  of  it, — that  nourished 
by  the  Christian  books,  by  the  great  thoughts  which  Christ 
set  stirring  in  humanity,  and  of  which  these  books  kept  a 
lasting  record,  there  should  unfold  itself  a  poetry  infinitely 
greater,  an  art  infinitely  higher,  than  any  which  the  old 
world  had  seen;  that  this  faith,  which  looked  so  rigid,  so 
austere,  even  so  forbidding,  should  clothe  itself  in  forms  of 
1  Blackwood's  Magazine. 


TRIUMPHS    OF    THE    BIBLE.  51 

grace  and  loveliness,  such  as  men  had  never  dreamt  of  be- 
fore ;  that  poetry  should  not  be  henceforward  the  play 
of  the  spirit,  but  its  holiest  earnest ;  and  those  skilless 
Christian  hymns  to  Christ  as  to  God,"  of  which  Pliny 
speaks,  so  rude  probably  in  regard  of  form,  should  yet  be 
the  preludes  of  strains  higher  than  the  world  had  listened 
to  yet.  Or,  who  would  have  supposed  that  those  artless 
paintings  of  the  catacombs  had  the  prophecy  in  them  of 
more  wondrous  compositions  than  men's  eyes  had  ever 
seen — or  that  a  day  should  arrive  when  above  many  a  dark 
vault  and  narrow  crypt,  where  now  the  Christian  worship- 
pers gathered  in  secret,  should  arise  domes  and  cathedrals, 
embodying  loftier  ideas,  because  ideas  relating  to  the 
eternal  and  the  infinite,  than  all  those  Grecian  temples, 
which  now  stood  so  fair  and  so  strong,  but  which  aimed 
not  to  lift  men's  minds  from  the  earth  which  they  adorned  ? 
"  How  little  would  the  one  or  other,  would  Christian  or 
heathen  have  presaged  such  a  future  as  this — that  art  was 
not  to  perish,  but  only  to  be  purified  and  redeemed  from 
the  service  of  the  flesh,  and  from  whatever  was  clinging  to 
and  hindering  it  from  realizing  its  true  glory, — and  that 
this  book,  which  does  not  talk  about  such  matters,  which 
does  not  make  beauty  but  holiness,  its  end  and  aim — 
should  yet  be  the  truest  nourisher  of  all  out  of  which  any 
genuine  art  has  ever  proceeded;  the  truest  fosterer  of 
beauty,  in  that  it  is  the  nourisher  of  the  affections,  the  sus- 
tainer  of  the  relations  between  God  and  man;  which  affec- 
tions and  which  relations  are  indeed  the  only  root  out  of 
which  any  poetry  or  art  worthy  the  name,  ever  have  sprung. 
For  these  affections  being  laid  waste,  those  relations  being 
broken,  art  is  first  stricken  with  barrenness,  and  then,  in  a 
little  while,  withers  and  pines  and  dies — as  that  ancient  art, 
wrhich  had  been  so  fertile  while  faith  survived,  was,  when 
the  Church  was  born,  already  withering  and  dying  under 
the  influence  of  the  scepticism,  the  profligacy,  the  decay  of 


52  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

family  and  national  life,  the  extinction  of  religious  faith, 
which  so  eminently  marked  the  time  ;  only  having  a  name 
to  live,  resting  merely  on  the  traditions  of  an  earlier  age, 
and  on  the  eve  of  utter  dissolution.  Such  was  its  condi- 
tion when  Christ  came,  and  cast  in  his  Word,  as  that  which 
maketh  all  things  new,  into  the  midst  of  an  old  and  decre- 
pit and  wornout  world."  1 

The  late  professor  Wilson  has  also  written  eloquently 
on  this  theme.  Comparing  the  Christian  with  the  old  clas- 
sic world,  he  says  in  his  "  Kecreations : "  "  We  seem  to  feel 
more  profoundly  than  they — to  see,  as  it  were,  into  a  new 

world Since  the  revelation  of  Christianity,  all  moral 

thought  has  been  sanctified  by  religion.  Religion  has  given 
to  it  a  purity,  a  solemnity,  a  sublimity  which,  even  amongst 
the  noblest  of  the  heathen,  we  shall  look  for  in  vain.  The 
knowledge  that  shone  by  fits  and  dimly  on  the  eyes  of 
Socrates  and  Plato,  c  that  rolled  in  vain  to  find  the  light,' 
has  descended  over  many  lands  into  the  '  huts  where  poor 
men  lie ; »  and  thoughts  are  familiar  there,  beneath  the  low 
and  smoking  roofs,  higher  far  than  ever  flowed  from  Grecian 
sage  meditating  among  the  magnificence  of  his  pillared  tem- 
ples." 

"  Christ  hath  sent  us  down  the  angels ; 

And  the  whole  earth  and  the  skies 

Are  illumed  by  altar  candles 

Lit  for  blessed  mysteries ; 

And  a  Priest's  hand,  through  creation, 

Waveth  calm  and  consecration — 

And  Pan  is  dead." — Mrs.  BROWNING. 

The  triumphs  of  modern  science,  also,  are  due  to  the 
Bible.  Not  only  did  it  communicate  the  intellectual  im- 
pulse which  led  to  their  achievement,  but  the  true  method 
of  investigation,  without  which  all  or  most  of  them  would 
have  remained  in  impenetrable  darkness,  is  to  be  ascribed 
to  its  influence.  In  all  ages  of  the  world,  heathen  and 

1  Hulsean  Lectures,  Am.  ed.,  pp.  132-3. 


TKIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  53 

Christian,  down  to  the  revival  of  letters,  when  the  Bible 
first  reached  the  intellectual  ascendency  it  has  ever  since 
maintained,  the  only  test  and  standard  of  truth  which  men 
knew  and  recognized  was  human  reason.  The  profoundest 
thinkers  confounded  physics  with  metaphysics,  and  without 
troubling  themselves  to  observe  the  processes  of  nature  as 
carried  on  in  the  mighty  laboratory  of  the  universe,  pro- 
.  posed  to  possess  themselves  of  her  secrets,  by  using  the 
rules  of  syllogistic  art. 

"  Previous  to  the  publication  of  the  Novum  Organon 
of  Bacon,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "natural  philosophy, 
in  any  legitimate  and  extensive  use  of  the  word,  could 
hardly  be  said  to  exist.  Among  the  Greek  philosophers, 
of  whose  attainments  in  science  alone  we  have  any  positive 
knowledge,  and  that  but  a  very  limited  one,  we  are  struck 
with  the  remarkable  contrast  between  their  powers  of  acute 
and  subtile  disputation,  their  extraordinary  success  in  ab- 
stract reasoning,  and  their  intimate  familiarity  with  subjects 
purely  intellectual,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and,  on  the  other,  with 
their  loose  and  careless  consideration  of  external  nature, 
their  grossly  illogical  deductions  of  sweeping  generality 
from  few  and  ill-observed  facts,  in  some  cases ;  and  their 
reckless  assumption  of  abstract  principles  having  no  foun- 
dation but  in  their  own  imaginations,  in  others ;  mere  forms 
of  words  with  nothing  corresponding  to  them  in  nature, 
from  which,  as  from  mathematical  definitions,  postulates, 
and  axioms,  they  imagined  that  all  phenomena  could  be 
derived,  all  the  laws  of  nature  deduced."  Thus 

"  Sages  after  sages  strove 
In  vain  to  filter  off  the  crystal  draught 
Pure  from  the  lees,  which  often  more  enhanced 
The  thirst  than  slaked  it,  and  not  seldom  bred 
Intoxication  and  delirium  wild." 

But  from  the  time  that  the  reign  of  the  Bible  began,  the 
dominion  of  false  principles  of  inquiry  and  research  in  the 


54  ^          TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

realms  of  physical  science  began  to  pass  away.  In  the  light 
of  revelation  men  learned  that  reason  was  but  a  blind  guide 
in  such  high  matters  as  the  laws  and  order  of  the  universe. 
They  had  found  and  recognized  in  the  Bible  an  unimpeach- 
able standard  for  moral  duty,  and  thus  was  the  desire 
awakened  to  obtain  a  basis  of  equal  certainty  for  the  facts 
of  the  physical  world.  In  the  progress  of  human  thought, 
the  true  province  of  reason  with  respect  to  revelation  had 
at  length  been  defined,  and  it  was  now  understood  that 
man's  convictions  of  what  is  divine  truth  must  be  conse- 
quents upon  and  not  antecedents  to  his  examination  of  the 
divine  word.  ,  It  was  perceived  that  man  might  be  able  to 
understand  and  interpret  such  statements  and  disclosures 
as  the  wisdom  of  God  might  see  fit  to  make  known  to  him ; 
but  that,  without  that  aid,  to  discover  what  should  be  the 
principles  and  laws  of  the  divine  order  and  government,  is 
beyond  his  power.  This  lesson  applied  with  equal  direct- 
ness and  force  to  the  moral  and  to  the  physical  government 
of  God.  It  furnished  the  lever1  by  which  Lord  Bacon 
overthrew  the  long-established  scholastic  philosophy,  and 
"  substituted  induction  for  syllogism,  fact  for  theory,  prac- 
tical experiment  for  abstract  speculation."  Utterly  discard- 
ing the  idea  that  the  human  mind  could  determine  on  purely 
theoretic  and  a  priori  grounds,  what  facts  of  nature  are  to 
be  allowed  or  disallowed,  he  showed  the  office  of  man  in 
search  of  truth  to  be  that  of  servant  or  interpreter, — by 
patient  observation  and  comparison  to  decipher  what  God 
has  written  in  the  great  book  of  nature,  and  thus  climb 
truth's  ever-ascending  pathway,  which,  if  it  be  steep,  is  yet 
open  and  accessible.  Armed  with  this  principle,  the  mighty 
genius  of  Bacon,  like  the  magic  wand  of  Prospero,  dislimned 

1  "  The  road  to  true  philosophy  is  precisely  the  same  with  that  which 
leads  to  true  religion ;  and  from  both  one  and  the  other,  unless  we  would  en- 
ter in  as  little  children,  we  must  expect  to  be  totally  excluded." — Nov.  Org., 
lib.  i,  aph.  68. 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  55 

the  "  airy  charms  and  unsubstantial  pageants  "  of  abstract 
conceptions  and  subtile  distinctions,  among  which  man  had 
so  long  been  lost  and  bewildered,  and  brought  him  forth  into 
a  world  of  real  existences.  Finely  and  truly  has  Cowley 
said: 

"From  these  and  all  long  errors  of  the  way, 
In  which  our  wandering  predecessors  went, 
And  like  th'  old  Hebrews,  many  years  did  stray 

In  deserts  of  but  small  extent, 
Bacon,  like  Moses,  led  us  forth  at  last; 

The  barren  wilderness  he  past 

Did  on  the  very  border  stand 

Of  the  blest  promis'd  land, 
And  from  the  mountain's  top  of  his  exalted  wit 

Saw  it  himself,  and  show'd  us  it." 

The  Bible,  therefore,  is  the  great  intellectual  elevator 
of  mankind.  Its  influence  has  enlightened  and  schooled 
philosophy,  stimulated  science,  ennobled  poetry  and  art,  and 
at  the  same  time  has  touched  all  things,  human  life  most  of 
all,  with  sublimity  and  grandeur.  Coeval  with  the  infancy 
of  Time,  it  still  remains  and  widens  in  the  circle  of  its  in- 
telligence. "  It  adapts  itself  with  facility  to  the  revolutions 
of  thought  and  feeling  which  shake  to  pieces  all  things  else, 
— and  flexibly  accommodates  itself  to  the  progress  of  society 
and  the  changes  of  civilization.  Even  conquests, — the  dis- 
organization of  old  nations, — the  formation  of  new, — do  not 
affect  the  continuity  of  its  empire.  It  lays  hold  of  the  new 
as  of  the  old,  and  transmigrates  with  the  spirit  of  humanity ; 
attracting  to  itself,  by  its  own  moral  power,  in  all  the  com- 
munities it  enters,  a  ceaseless  intensity  of  effort  for  its  pro- 
pagation, illustration,  and  defence."  "  King  and  noble, 
peasant  and  pauper  are  delighted  students  of  its  pages. 
Philosophers  have  humbly  gleaned  from  it,  and  legislation 
has  been  thankfully  indebted.  Its  stories  charm  the  child, 
its  hopes  inspirit  the  aged,  and  its  promises  soothe  the  bed 
of  death.  The  maiden  is  wedded  under  its  sanction,  and 


56  TRIUMPHS    OF   THE  BIBLE. 

the  grave  is  closed  under  its  comforting  assurances.  Its 
lessons  are  the  essence  of  religion,  the  seminal  truths  of 
theology,  the  first  principles  of  morals,  and  the  guiding 
axioms  of  political  economy.  It  is  the  theme  of  universal 
appeal.  In  the  entire  range  of  literature,  no  book  is  so 
frequently  quoted  or  referred  to.  The  majority  of  all  the 
books  ever  published  have  been  in  connection  with  it. 
The  Fathers  commented  upon  it,  and  the  subtile  diviners 
of  the  middle  ages  refined  upon  its  doctrines.  It  sustained 
Origen's  scholarship  and  Chrysostom's  rhetoric.  It  whet- 
ted the  penetration  of  Abelard,  and  exercised  the  keen  in- 
genuity of  Aquinas.  It  gave  life  to  the  revival  of  letters, 
and  Dante  and  Petrarch  revelled  in  its  imagery.  It  aug- 
mented the  erudition  of  Erasmus,  and  roused  and  blessed 
the  intrepidity  of  Luther.  Its  temples  are  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  architecture,  and  the  brightest  triumphs  of  music 
are  associated  with  its  poetry.  The  text  of  no  ancient 
author  has  summoned  into  operation  such  an  amount  of 
labor  and  learning,  and  it  has  furnished  occasion  for  the 
most  masterly  examples  of  criticism  and  comment,  gram- 
matical investigation,  and  logical  analysis.  It  has  also  in- 
spired the  English  .muse  with  her  loftiest  strains.  Its  beams 
gladdened  Milton  in  his  darkness,  and  cheered  the  song  of 
Cowper  in  his  sadness.  It  was  the  star  which  guided 
Columbus  to  the  discovery  of  the  !NTew  World.  It  fur- 
nished the  panoply  of  that  Puritan  valor  which  shivered 
tyranny  in  days  gone  by.  It  is  the  magna  charta  of  the 
world's  regeneration  and  liberties.  The  records  of  false 
religion,  from  the  Koran  to  the  Book  of  Mormon,  have 
owned  its  superiority,  and  surreptitiously  purloined  its  jew- 
els. Among  the  Christian  classics  it  loaded  the  treasures 
of  Owen,  charged  the  fulness  of  Hooker,  barbed  the  point 
of  Baxter,  gave  colors  to  the  palette  and  sweep  to  the  pen- 
cil of  Bunyan,  enriched  the  fragrant  fancy  of  Taylor,  sus- 
tained the  loftiness  of  Howe,  and  strung  the  plummet  of 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  57 

Edwards.  In  short,  this  collection  of  artless  lives  and  let- 
ters has  changed  the  face  of  the  world,  and  ennobled  my- 
riads of  its  population."  1  Not  only  do  we  owe  to  it  our 
social  and  moral  advantages,  but  the  brilliant  achievements 
of  modern  science,  the  miracles  of  modern  art,  and  the 
master  works  of  modern  literature,  are  to  be  reckoned 
among  its  trophies. 

To  these  claims  for  the  Bible,  infidelity  would,  however, 
object,  that  the  mighty  change  which  has  been  wrought 
in  man's  moral  condition,  and  also  his  intellectual  advance- 
ment, are  due,  not  to  the  influence  of  Revelation,  but  to 
the  unfolding  of  our  nature  from  its  own  inherent  vigor 
and  natural  growth  in  its  progress  toward  perfection. 
The  philosophers  of  the  modern  "  positive  "  school  argue 
that,  as  an  individual  passes  through  the  different  stages  of 
infancy,  childhood,  and  manhood,  so  society,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  natural  law,  progresses  from  one  generation  to 
another.  The  whole  human  race  is  to  be  viewed  as  "a 
colossal  man,  whose  life  reaches  from  the  creation  to  the 
day  of  judgment,"  2  arid  to  whose  education,  "in  the  econo- 
my of  Providence,  the  poetical  and  legendary  mythology 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  animal  worship  of  Egypt,  the  sun 
worship  of  the  East,  with  their  various  systems  of  law  and 
civil  government,"  have  as  truly  contributed  as  the  religion 
of  the  Bible.  Under  all  these  means  and  agencies,  man  has 
been  gradually  approximating  toward  that  goal  and  consum- 
mation which  Creative  wisdom  designed  he  should  attain. 

There  is  a  mixture  of  truth  with  the  error  of  this 
hypothesis,  that  lends  it  plausibility.  For  it  is  undeniable 
that  man  is  a  creature  of  progress  and  expansion,  and  there 
is  a  sense  in  which  the  philosophic  poet  truly  says : 

"  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns." 

TENNYSON. 

1  Dr.  Eadie.  8Dr.  Temple  in  the  Essays  and  Reviews. 


58  TRIUMPHS    OP   THE   BIBLE. 

There  are  bounds  of  limitation  for  the  inferior  creation. 
The  bee  constructs  its  cell,  the  eagle  builds  its  eyrie,  the 
nautilus  hoists  its  membrane  sail,  as  they  did  in  the  early 
morning  of  the  world,  without  change  or  improvement. 
They,  and  all  others  of  every  species,  soon  reach  the  full 
maturity  of  their  being,  and  can  rise  no  higher  in  the  scale. 
But  the  faculties  of  man  are  not  thus  hopelessly  circum- 
scribed. He  is  capable  in  himself  of  boundless  improve- 
ment, and  of  appropriating  "  the  long  result  of  time,"  the 
accumulated  treasures  of  knowledge  and  thought,  which  the 
ages  have  transmitted — 

"  Augescunt  aliae  gentes,  alia;  minuuntur, 
Inque  brevi  spatio  mutantur  scecla  animantum, 
Et  quasi  cursores  vital  lampada  tradunt." — LUCRETIUS. 

"Nations  by  turns  increase,  by  turns  decay : 
Like  Racers,  bear  the  Lamp  of  life  and  live, 
And  their  Race  done,  their  Lamp  to  others  give." 

Individuals  and  nations  perish,  but  the  progress  of  humanity 
is  continued.  Or,  to  use  another  illustration  than  that 
supplied  by  Lucretius :  "  The  whole  gigantic  growth  of 
human  knowledge  and  science  may  be  compared  to  those 
deposits  which  geologists  describe,  full  of  the  remains  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life, — beautiful  once  and  beneficial 
still.  The  luxuriant  foliage  and  huge  forest  growth  of 
science  and  literature  which  now  overshadow  us,  are  them- 
selves rooted  in  strata  of  decaying  or  decayed  mind,  and 
derive  their  nourishment  from  them  ;  the  very  soil  we  turn 
is  the  loose  detritus  of  thought,  washed  down  to  us  through 
the  long  ages."  The  great  increase  in  knowledge  of  the 
physical  globe,  the  greater  acquaintance  with  the  powers 
and  forces  of  the  created  universe,  the  marvellous  progress 
in  the  inventive  arts,  that  characterize  the  present  age, 
have  doubtless,  in  part  at  least,  sprung  from  this  accumula- 
tion. But  this  admission  by  no  means  implies  the  progress 


TRIUMPHS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  59 

of  the  race  in  such  a  sense  as  the  school  of  writers  referred 
to  contend  for.  Their  hypothesis  entirely  ignores  the 
necessity  of  such  a  remedial  process  for  the  restoration  and 
development  of  man  as  Christianity  contemplates  and  de- 
signs. And  when  we  examine  history,  we  find  that  that 
hypothesis  completely  fails  as  it  respects  the  vast  majority 
of  our  race.  Where  there  has  been  progression,  it  can  be 
shown  that  it  has  always  been  due,  not  to  the  operation  of 
a  blind  inherent  law,  but  to  agencies  and  impulses  acting 
upon  it  from  without,  and  in  accordance  with  the  'develop- 
ment of  that  "  increasing  purpose "  or  divine  plan  recog- 
nized by  the  poet.  "  God,"  it  has  been  said,  "  is  in  history," 
and  in  the  mighty  scheme  which  under  the  superintendence 
of  his  ever-present  agency  is  continually  evolving,  all  events 
are  included.  The  rise  and  fall  of  states  and  empires  are 
but  among  the  subordinate  means  and  instrumentalities  for 
promoting  "  the  uuhasting  yet  unresting  progress  of  a  king- 
dom, ordained  ere  time  began,  to  be  completed  when  time 
shall  be  no  more."  l  If  there  were  such  a  "  natural  law  of 
historic  progress,"  as  writers  like  Hegel,  Comte,  and" Buckle 
contend  for,  it  ought,  like  all  the  laws  of  nature,  to  be 
constant  in  its  tendencies  and  uniform  in  its  results.  But 
how  is  this  reconcilable  with  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
countries  most  civilized  in  the  days  of  Augustus  are  now  in 
a  state  of  hopeless  barbarism  ?  It  is  certain  that  the  only 
true  law  and  the  only  direct  line  of  the  world's  sure  and 
stable  progress,  which  can  be  traced  in  all  the  annals  of  the 
past,  have  been  coincident  with  the  advancement  and 
prevalence  of  Bible  truth  and  knowledge.  If  this  be  denied, 
how  shall  we  solve  the  problem  presented  by  such  countries 
as  China  and  Hindostan,  where  letters  and  philosophy 
flourished  in  those  remote  ages,  when  the  cruel  rites  of 
Druidism  were  practised  in  Britain,  and  the  savage  tribes 
who  then  inhabited  Germany,  worshipped  Odin  and  Thor, 
1  Prof.  H.  B.  Smith. 


60  TEIUMPHS   OP  THE  BIBLE. 

if  we  contrast  them  as  they  now  are,  with  what  Christen- 
dom has  become  ?  To  what  can  we  refer  the  difference, 
but  to  the  influence  of  Bible  truth  in  the  latter,  and  its 
absence  in  the  former?  Where  that  has  been  wanting, 
after  a  certain  point  has  been  reached,  the  progress  has 
ever  been  in  the  direction  indicated  in  the  well-known  lines 
of  the  Roman  poet : 

"Damnosa  quid  non  imminuit  dies? 
^Etas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tulit 
Nos  nequiores,  mox  daturos 

Progenicm  vitiosiorem." — Hon.,  Od.  iii,  6. 

"  Our  fathers'  race, 
More  deeply  versed  in  ill 
Than  were  their  sires,  hath  borne  us  yet 
More  wicked,  duly  to  beget 
A  race  more  wicked  still." — MARTIN'S  TRANS. 

"  The  downward  tendencies  of  human  nature,  which  con- 
stitute the  substance  of  Secular,  as  distinguished  from 
Sacred  History  ;  the  acknowledged  deterioration  of  lan- 
guages, literatures,  religions,  arts,  sciences,  and  civiliza- 
tions; the  slow  and  sure  decay  of  national  vigor,  and  return 
to  barbarism  ;  the  unvarying  decline  from  public  virtue  to 
public  voluptuousness ;  in  short,  the  entire  history  of  man,"  l 
so  far  as  he  is  or  has  been  left  to  his  natural  development,  all 
titter  the  same  testimony.  In  the  teeming  vices  of  the 
great  cities  of  Europe  and  America,  there  is  abundant  proof 
that  man  is  the  same  now  as  when  Horace  wrote.  And 
if  modern  communities  have  not  sunk  into  the  very  lowest 
depths  of  that  almost  incredible  profligacy  that  marked  the 
declining  years  of  Roman  greatness,  it  is  to  no  growing 
perfectibility  of  human  nature  that  we  owe  it,  but  to  that 
Gospel  which  modern  scepticism  affects  to  despise.  It  is. 
the  moulding,  modifying  influence  of  the  precepts  and 

1  Professor  Shedd's  Philosophy  of  History. 


TRIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  61 

truths  of  the  Bible,  wrought  into  all  our  institutions,  like 
the  name  of  Phidias  in  the  shield  of  Minerva,  that  has 
produced  the  superiority  of  modern  to  ancient  civilization. 
In  the  presence  of  that  element,  we  have  a  safe  assurance 
that  the  world's  progress  henceforth  shall  be  onward — that 
humanity  is  being  restored  to  the  heights  whence  it  fell — 
that  the  light  of  improvement  now  kindled,  shall  never 
expire. 

Were  such  confirmation  needful,  the  position  above 
taken  might  be  fortified  by  numerous  testimonies  of  great 
and  illustrious  men.  On  such  a  point,  who  so  qualified  to 
utter  an  opinion  as  England's  "scholar,  metaphysician, 
bard,"  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  ?  It  is  the  recorded  judg- 
ment of  that  imperial  mind,  that  "  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years  the  Bible,  collectively  taken,  has  gone  hand  in  hand 
with  civilization,  science,  law — in  short,  with  the  moral  and 
intellectual  cultivation  of  the  species — always  supporting, 
and  often  leading  the  way.  Its  very  presence,  as  a  believed 
Book,  has  rendered  the  nations  emphatically  a  chosen  race, 
and  this,  too,  in  exact  proportion  as  it  is  more  or  less  gener- 
ally known  and  studied.  Of  those  nations  which  in  the 
highest  degree  enjoy  its  influences,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
affirm,  that  the  differences,  public  and  private,  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual,  are  only  less  than  what  might  have 
been  expected  from  a  diversity  of  species.  Good  and  holy 
men,  and  the  best  and  wisest  of  mankind,  the  kingly  spirits 
of  history,  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  mighty  nations,  have 
borne  witness  to  its  influences,  have  declared  it  to  be  beyond 
compare  the  most  perfect  instrument  of  Humanity." 

To  this  eloquent  utterance,  may  be  added  a  similar 
testimony  from  America's  accomplished  orator  and  states- 
man, the  Hon.  Edward  Everett.  He  says,  "  The  highest 
historical  probability  can  be  adduced  in  support  of  the 
proposition,  that,  if  it  were  possible  to  annihilate  the  Bible, 
and  with  it  all  its  influences,  we  should  destroy  with  it  the 


62  TKIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

whole  spiritual  system  of  the  moral  world — all  our  great 
moral  ideas — refinement  of  manners — constitutional  govern- 
ment— equitable  administration  and  security  of  property — 
our  schools,  hospitals,  and  benevolent  associations — the 
press — the  fine  arts — the  equality  of  the  sexes,  and  the  bless- 
ings of  the  fireside  ;  in  a  word,  all  that  distinguishes  Europe 
and  America  from  Turkey  and  Hindostan." 

But  the  greatest  triumph  of  the  Bible  is  the  power 
which  its  truth  imparts  to  fortify  the  believer  against  the 
ills  of  life  and  the  fear  of  death.  It  is  an  affecting  and 
impressive  incident  that  is  related  of  the  closing  hours  of 
the  most  eminent  and  popular  author  of  the  present 
century.  A  few  days  before  his  death,  during  an  interval 
of  comparative  ease  from  his  malady,  turning  to  his  son-in- 
law,  he  expressed  a  wish  that  he  should  read  to  him. 
"  From  what  book  shall  I  read  ?  "  said  he.  "  Can  you 
ask  ?  "  the  dying  Scott  replied  ;  "  there  is  but  One."  No 
page  of  his  own  matchless  romances  or  enchanting  poetry 
could  minister  comfort  to  him  then.  And  to  all  of  living 
men,  there  is  coming  a  time,  when  they  will  be  shut  up  to 
a  like  necessity.  Life  may  now  appear  like  a  fairy  scene, 
all  nature  wear  a  smile  of  gladness,  and  the  heart  be  filled 
with  joy, 

"  Youth  on  the  prow  and  pleasure  at  the  helm  ;  " 

but  the  spell  will  be  broken  and  the  enchantment  disap- 
pear. For  there  is  a  reverse  to  the  picture.  "  Though  a 
man  live  many  years  and  rejoice  in  them  all,  yet  let  him 
remember  the  days  of  darkness,  for  they  shall  be  many." 
There  is  a  train  of  inevitable  evils  from  which  the  most 
favored  lot  is  not  exempt.  In  the  garden  there  is  a  sepul- 
chre. Sickness  and  sorrow,  weariness  and  pain,  disappoint- 
ment and  separation  from  those  we  love,  and  "  death  the 
end  of  earth,"  who  shall  escape  these  ?  Unto  these  troubles 
man  is  born  as  the  sparks  fly  upward.  The  last  of  them 


TKIUMPHS    OP  THE   BIBLE.  63 

has  been  expressively  termed  "  the  king  of  terrors."  Apart 
from  the  hope  which  Revelation  proffers,  he  is  and  ever 
has  been,  since  the  entrance  of  sin  marred  our  inheritance, 
a  skeleton  at  life's  richest  banquet, — in  its  sunniest  path,  a 
serpent  among  the  flowers, — in  its  clearest  sky,  an  ever- 
i  threatening  cloud.  What  though  the  votary  of  ambition 
achieve  the  glittering  prize  of  "  youth's  dreaming  hope,  and 
labor's  midnight  oil,"  yet  the  inevitable  hour  will  come  to 
close  the  scene  and  extinguish  his  fairest  prospects.  For 
what  is  human  life  ? 

"  A  flower  that  does  with  opening  dawn  arise, 
And  flourishing  the  day,  at  evening  dies ; 
A  winged  eastern  blast,  just  skimming  o'er 
The  ocean's  brow,  and  sinking  on  the  shore ; 
A  fire,  whose  flames  through  crackling  stubble  fly ; 
A  meteor,  shooting  from  the  summer  sky ; 
A  bowl,  adown  the  bending  mountain  rolled  ; 
A  bubble  breaking, — and  a  fable  told : 
A  noontide  shadow,  and  a  midnight  dream ; 
Are  emblems,  which,  with  semblance  apt,  proclaim 
Our  earthly  course." — PRIOR'S  Solomon. 

Viewed  in  this  aspect  alone,  life  seems  an  undesirable 
possession.  When  we  consider  only  its  trials  and  vicissi- 
tudes, its  pains,  sorrows,  and  disappointments — that  man's 
greatness  ripens  but  to  fall,  and  "  the  paths  of  glory  lead 
but  to  the  grave,"  we  are  ready  to  say  with  the  afflicted 
patriarch,  "  I  loathe  it,  I  would  not  live  alway,"  or  with  the 
world's  despairing  votary — 

"  Known  were  the  bill  of  fare  before  we  taste, 

Who  would  not  spurn  the  banquet  and  the  board  ? 
Prefer  th'  eternal  but  oblivious  fast 

To  life's  frail  fretted  thread,  and  death's  suspended  sword  ?  " 

These  lines  are  from  a  poem  written  by  the  gifted 
author  of  "  Lacon,"  just  before  with  his  own  hand  he  termi- 
nated his  miserable  life.  To  them  may  be  appended  the 
melancholy  confession  of  that  great  but  perverted  genius 


64  .       TKIUMPHS   OP  THE  BIBLE. 

Rousseau,  as  he  approached  the  shores  of  eternity :  "  I 
now  found  myself,"  says  he,  uin  the  decline  of  life,  a  prey 
to  tormenting  maladies,  and  believing  myself  at  the  close 
of  my  career  without  having  once  tasted  the  sublime 
pleasures  after  which  my  heart  panted.  Why  was  it  that, 
with  a  soul  naturally  expansive,  whose  very  existence  was 
benevolence,  I  have  never  found  one  single  friend  with  feel- 
ings like  my  own  ?  A  prey  to  the  cravings  of  a  heart 
which  have  never  been  satisfied,  I  perceived  myself  arrived 
at  the  confines  of  old  age,  and  dying  ere  I  had  begun  to 
live.  I  considered  destiny  as  in  my  debt,  for  promises 
which  she  had  never  realized.  Why  was  I  created  with 
faculties  so  refined,  yet  which  were  never  intended  to  be 
adequately  employed  ?  I  felt  my  own  value,  and  revenged 
myself  of  my  fate,  by  recollecting  and  shedding  tears  for 
its  injustice."  l 

Is  then  this  life  wholly  a  labyrinth  of  confusion  and  dis- 
order ?  a  flat,  and  stale,  and  unprofitable  scene  of  guilt  and 
misery  ?  of  power  exerted  without  an  object  ?  of  energies, 
of  hopes,  of  sympathies,  terminating  in  nothing  ?  Can  it 
be  that  the  benevolent  Author  of  our  being  has  left  us  with 
no  provision  for  our  deepest  necessities — no  balm  for  our 
sufferings — no  medicine  to  soothe  our  griefs  ?  No ;  God 
has  not  left  his  work  unfinished.  He  has  provided  a  remedy 
for  all  these  ills.  There  is  that  which  if  cast  into  these 
bitter  waters,  they  will  become  healthful  and  pleasant. 
There  is  that  which,  when  all  earthly  hopes  vanish,  can  re- 
place them  with  visions  of  secure  and  everlasting  joys. 
Let  a  man  truly  believe  the  Bible,  let  him  receive  it  as  an 
authoritative  revelation  from  God,  and  bow  his  mind  and 
heart  in  willing  submission  to  its  blessed  teachings  and  he 
will  find  that  life's  gloom  will  soon  disperse  and  "  all  thing.i 
become  new."  The  fairest  boons  that  earth  can  offer,  likq 
the  Dead  Sea  fruit,  may  turn  to  ashes  on  the  lips,  but  th* 
1  Rousseau's  Confessions.  Part  ii,  book  9. 


TRIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  65 

talisman  hence  obtained  will  cause  the  water  of  this  world 
to  become  wine  of  heaven,  and  the  common  bread  of  this 
life  to  prove  angels'  food.  For  here  is  abundant  provision, 
exquisitely  adapted,  as  light  to  the  eye  and  music  to  the 
ear,  to  all  the  necessities  and  exigencies  of  our  condition,  in 
whatever  aspect  it  may  be  viewed.  "  Here  is  authority  in 
which  the  feebleness  of  the  soul  may  rest,  yet  tempered 
with  such  an  exquisite  sympathy  for  every  human  weak- 
ness as  the  experience  of  a  God  incarnate  could  alone  sup- 
ply. Not  a  doubt  that  is  not  solved  ;  not  a  fear  that  is  not 
removed ;  not  a  want  that  is  not  satisfied ;  not  a  sorrow 
incident  to  life  that  is  not  cheered  by  its  appropriate  com- 
fort,  till  even  life's  darkest  passages  become  beautiful  in 
that  flood  of  heavenly  light  and  love  that  streams  from  the 
cross  of  Christ.  Here  we  find  pardon  for  sin ;  reconcilia- 
tion with  God ;  a  new  life  in  the  soul  divinely  implanted, 
and  that  beats  pulse  to  pulse  with  the  heart  of  God  him- 
self; sonship  with  the  Almighty,  with  those  privileges  of 
free  intercourse,  constant  protection,  and  future  inheritance 
that  belong  to  sonship ;  a  new  charm  thrown  over  life  ;  all 
fear  taken  from  death ;  the  veil  of  the  further  world  up- 
lifted, and  such  a  glimpse  given  of  unutterable  bliss  that 
human  language  has  no  words  to  utter  it,  human  hearts  as 
yet  no  experience  by  which  to  measure  it.  All  this  blessed 
revelation  is  not  an  outward  communication  dependent  for 
its  effect  on  the  vigor  of  the  human  understanding,  but  is 
instinct  with  a  Divine  Spirit  that  sustains  with  almighty 
strength  the  feebleness  of  the  human  will,  and  directs  the 
waywardness  of  the  human  affections." 

"  Of  all  the  boons  which  God  has  bestowed  on  this  apos- 
tate and  orphaned  creation,  we  are  bound  to  say  that  the 
Bible  is  the  noblest  and  most  precious.  "We  bring  not  into 
comparison  with  this  illustrious  donation  the  glorious  sun- 
light, nor  the  rich  sustenance  which  is  poured  forth  from 
the  storehouses  of  the  earth,  nor  that  existence  itself  which 


66  TKIUMPHS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

allows  us,  though  dust,  to  soar  into  companionship  with 
angels.     The  Bible  is  the  development  of  man's  immortali- 
ty ;  the  guide  which  informs  him  how  he  may  move  off 
triumphantly  from  a  contracted  and  temporary  sphere,  and 
grasp  destinies  of  unbounded  splendor,  eternity  his  life- 
time, and  infinity  his  home.     It  is  the  record  which  tells  us 
that  this  rebellious  section  of  God's  unlimited  empire  is  not 
excluded   from   our   Maker's   compassion  ;    but  that  the 
creatures  who  move  upon  its  surface,  though  they  have 
basely  sepulchred  in  sinfulness  and  corruption  the  magnifi- 
cence of  their  nature,  are  yet  so  dear  in  their  ruin  to  Him 
who  first  formed  them,  that  He  hath  bowed  the  heavens  in 
order  to  open  their  graves."     "  It  is  this  that  has  nerved 
the  faith  which  has  overcome  the  world  ;  this  has  strength- 
ened the  martyr's  heart  till  he  has  gone  to  death  as  to  a 
victory,  and  made  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  glo- 
rious with  hallelujahs ;    this  has  bound  up  the  mourner's 
bleeding  wounds,  and  made  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  to 
sing ;  this  has  rendered  the  tender  woman  and  the  feeble 
child  more  than  conquerors  over  all  at  which  unassisted 
human  nature  shudders  ;  this  has  brightened  life  and  sweet- 
ened death,  till  the  pallid  brow  of  the  dead  saint  has  be- 
come glorious  as  a  conqueror's,   and  the  coffin  and  the 
winding-sheet  have  been  the  investiture  of  a  blessed  im- 
mortality.    These  are  the  triumphs  of  the  Bible."  1 

"  Most  wondrous  book  !  bright  candle  of  the  Lord ! 
Star  of  eternity  !  the  only  star 
By  which  the  bark  of  man  could  navigate 
The  sea  of  life,  and  gain  the  coast  of  bliss 
Securely ;  only  star  which  rose  on  Time, 
And,  on  its  dark  and  troubled  billows,  still, 
As  generation,  drifting  swiftly  by, 
Succeeded  generation,  threw  a  ray 
Of  heaven's  own  light ;  and  to  the  hills  of  God, 
The  everlasting  hills,  pointed  the  sinner's  eye." — POLLOK. 

1  Garbett's  Boyle  Lectures. 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  67 

But  great  as  have  been  the  triumphs  and  achievements 
of  the  Bible  ;  though  through  so  many  centuries  its  adver- 
saries have  assailed  it  in  vain ;  though  its  victories  have 
been  far  more  wonderful  than  those  of  Ca3sar  or  Alexander ; 
though  it  has  moulded  anew  the  life  of  nations,  and  wher- 
ever its  mission  has  been  welcomed  and  its  influence  has 
had  "  free  course,"  has  renewed  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
though  it  is  man's  guide  in  the  morning  and  noon  of  life, 
and  both  his  staff  and  telescope  when  its  evening  shadows 
fall ;  though  in  that  dread  hour  when  man's  flesh  and  heart 
fail  and  all  earthly  things  recede,  it  has  so  oft  exhibited  its 
power  to  light  up  death's  glazing  eye  with  immortal 
hope,  and  arm  the  departing  believer  to  meet  the  "  king 
of  terrors"  unappalled,  yet  let  us  not  suppose  that  its 
earthly  warfare  has  ceased.  Its  pure  uncompromising  doc- 
trines still  call  forth  the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind  and  cor- 
rupt heart  of  man.  "The  religion  which  imposes  self- 
restraint  upon  the  wilful,  humility  upon  the  arrogant,  mercy 
upon  the  cruel ;  which  would  bend  the  knees  of  the  self- 
righteous  philosophers  before  the  cross  of  a  crucified  Re- 
deemer, and  which  would  quell  all  the  tumultuous  desires 
which  attach  us  to  this  world,  that  it  may  plant  the  sublime 
hopes  and  aspirations  of  eternity  in  their  room  ; — that  re- 
ligion can  never  hope  to  command  the  willing  deference  of 
an  unconverted  world.  So  long  as  a  single  sophism  can  be 
found  to  justify  disobedience  to  its  dictates ;  so  long  as 
man  will  continue  to  argue  from  the  suggestions  of  passion 
rather  than  of  cool  and  impartial  reflection ;  so  long  as  the 
scanty  area  of  man's  knowledge  will  be  too  narrow  for  the 
difficulties  with  which  it  is  beset,  and  the  bad  passions  of 
mankind  shall  be  ready  to  take  advantage  of  those  difficul- 
ties ;  so  long  as  any  one  branch  of  science  shall  remain  un- 
investigated,  and  the  obscurities  of  ancient  literature  afford 
the  slightest  ground  for  plausible  speculation  ; — so  long,  we 
may  confidently  assert,  will  Christianity  see,  not  only  the 


68  TEIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

proud,  the  violent,  and  the  sensualist,  but  even  scholars 
and  philosophers  drawn  up  in  array  against  her."  Infideli- 
ty, so  often  repulsed,  still  keeps  the  field,  and  if  she  inter- 
mit her  efforts,  it  is  only  to  recruit  her  forces  for  a  new 
campaign  and  to  assault  positions  hitherto  unattempted. 
"  There  is,"  says  an  able  writer,  "  there  is  coming  upon  the 
Church  a  current  of  doubt,  deeper  far  and  darker  than 
ever  swelled  against  her  before — a  current  strong  in  learn- 
ing, crested  with  genius,  strenuous  yet  calm  in  progress. 
It  seems  the  last  grand  trial  of  the  truth  of  our  faith. 
Against  the  battlements  of  Zion,  a  motley  throng  have 
gathered  themselves  together.  Socinians,  atheists,  doubt- 
ers, open  foes  and  bewildered  friends  are  in  the  field,  al- 
though no  trumpet  has  openly  been  blown,  and  no  charge 
publicly  sounded.  There  are  the  old  desperadoes  of  infi- 
delity— the  last  followers  of  Paine  and  Voltaire ;  there  is 
the  stolid,  scanty  and  sleepy  troop  of  the  followers  of 
Owen ;  there  follow  the  Communists  of  France,  a  fierce, 
disorderly  crew  ;  the  commentators  of  Germany  come,  too, 
with  pick-axes  in  their  hands,  crying,  *  Raze  it,  raze  it  to 
the  foundations.'  There  you  see  the  garde-mobile,  the 
vicious  and  vain  youth  of  Europe.  On  the  outskirts  of  the 
fight  hangs,  cloudy  and  uncertain,  a  small  but  select  band, 
whose  wavering  surge  is  surmounted  by  the  dark  and  lofty 
crest  of  Carlyle  and  Emerson.  '  Their  swords  are  a  thou- 
sand ' — their  purposes  are  various ;  in  this,  however,  all 
agree,  that  Christianity  and  the  Bible  ought  to  go  down 
before  advancing  civilization."  1  Since  this  graphic  descrip- 
tion was  penned,  indications  have  multiplied  that  "the 
last  conflict  of  great  principles,  the  final  contest  between 
truth  and  error,  the  mystic  Armageddon,  it  may  be,  of  the 
Apocalypse  has,  indeed,  commenced.  As  never,  since  the 
Apostolic  age,  have  the  triumphs  of  the  Bible  been  greater 
nor  its  friends  more  sanguine ;  so  never  have  its  enemies 
i  British  Quarterly  Review. 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  69 

been  more  numerous  and  determined.  To  the  old  open 
warfare,  have  been  added  weapons  of  attack  far  more  sub- 
tile and  dangerous.  These  have  been  skilfully  adapted  to 
the  refinement  and  intelligence  of  the  age ;  and  with  a 
great  show  of  learning  and  science,  and  not  seldom  under 
the  garb  of  reverence  for  the  Bible  and  adherence  to 
Christianity,  modern  sceptics  and  unbelievers  have  aimed 
the  most  deadly  blows  against  the  records  of  our  faith,  and 
no  conceivable  appliance  has  been  left  untried  for  the  pur- 
pose of  uprooting  that  tree  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations.  But  as  the  storm  which  beats  upon  the 
oak  only  causes  it  to  strike  its  roots  and  fibres  deeper  in 
the  soil,  so  shall  these  assaults  continue  to  prove  innocuous 
and  unavailing.  The  tree  which  a  Divine  hand  hath 
planted,  shall  still  flourish  in  undecaying  vigor  and  immor- 
tal beauty,  when  the  last  dagon  of  infidelity  shall  have 
fallen.  The  prophet  of  scepticism  may  talk  contemptuously 
of  "  old  Jew-stars  gone  out ; "  *  but  the  Bible  yet  lives. 
"  Every  age  has  more  than  one  Erostratus ;  but  while 
they  are  quarrelling  for  preeminence,  the  temple  stands 
and  their  torches  expire.  Strauss  abolishes  Paulus :  and 
Ewald  declares  that  in  Strauss  there  is  absolutely  nothing 
new.  The  giants,  sprung  from  the  dragon-teeth  of  scep- 
ticism, slay  each  other,  while  the  Bible,  like  the  immortal 
letters  of  Cadmus  (which  are  indeed  its  own),  passes  on  to 
mingle  with  the  thought  and  speech  of  all  lands  and  all 
centuries." 

But  while  the  experience  of  the  past  and  the  Almighty 
care  which  unceasingly  watches  over  it,  assure  us  of  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  Bible  over  all  its  enemies,  it  is  the 
manifest  duty  of  eVery  Christian,  especially  in  view  of  the* 
craft  and  subtilty  of  modern  unbelief,  to  be  armed  in  its 
behalf;  not  only  to  be  himself  convinced  of  "the  certainty 
of  those  things  which  are  most  surely  believed  among  us," 

Carlyle. 


70  TRIUMPHS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

but  to  be  able  to  answer  the  cavils  of  the  gainsayer,  and  to 
show  that  his  faith  rests  not  upon  "  cunningly  devised  fables." 
It  is  essential  to  our  happiness  and  security,  that  we  should 
steadfastly  believe  the  sublime  doctrines  and  undoubtingly 
rest  on  the  consoling  promises  of  the  Bible ;  but  it  is  also 
requisite  that  we  have  an  intelligent  persuasion  of  the 
firmness  and  stability  of  the  foundation  on  which  they  rest. 
We  are  not  to  sit  idly  and  at  ease,  in  unquestioning  reliance 
upon  lessons  of  custom  and  authority ;  but  we  must  "  walk 
about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her,  and  tell  the  towers 
thereof;  we  must  mark  well  her  bulwarks  and  consider 
her  palaces,  that  we  may  tell  to  generations  following,  this 
God  is  our  God  forever  and  ever." 

As  an  humble  aid  to  the  performance  of  this  duty,  and 
in  view  of  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  Christian  at  the 
present  time,  the  following  pages  have  been  written.  It  is 
proposed  to  confront  the  "  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so 
called,"  and  the  doubts  and  difficulties  of  modern  scepti- 
cism, and  to  establish  the  Harmony  of  the  Bible  with  the 
facts  of  Physical  Science,  and  also  the  Historical  Accuracy 
and  Reality  of  its  statements  and  narratives.  Against  these 
positions,  the  utmost  efforts  of  infidelity  have  been  directed. 
As  the  wonders  of  modern  science  have  been  unfolded,  each 
new  discovery,  it  was  hoped  by  the  enemies  of  Christianity, 
would  convict  the  sacred  writers  of  ignorance  and  error. 
As  antiquarian  research  has  brought  to  light  new  and  un- 
expected facts  from  long-buried  monuments  of  the  past, 
each  fresh  accession  has  been  eagerly  pounced  upon  with 
the  view  of  extracting  from  it  some  contradiction  of  the 
inspired  records.  And  if  at  any  time,  some  apparent  dis- 
crepancy could,  for  a  moment,  be  sustained,  the  cry  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Bible  then  was,  '  Falsus  in  uno,  falsus  in  om- 
nibus,'— false  in  one  respect,  false  in  all.  How  can  a  book 
which  is  thus  proved  erroneous,  claim  our  confidence? 
How  can  it  be  the  word  of  the  infallible  God  ?  But  it  will 


TRIUMPHS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  71 

here  be  shown  that  those  paeans  of  triumph  were  prema- 
ture, and  that  there  is  no  cause  for  apprehension  in  the 
Christian  camp, — that  the  Bible  is  able  to  resist  every 
assault,  from  whatever  quarter  it  may  come — that  it  is  pre- 
pared for  every  scrutiny  of  philosophy  or  of  history,  and 
that  every  fresh  discovery  which  has  the  remotest  bearing 
upon  its  authority  and  veracity,  but  adds  to  the  "  cloud  of 
witnesses "  which  attest  that  "  the  words  of  the  Lord  are 
pure  words ;  as  silver  tried  in  a  furnace  of  earth,  purified 
seven  times." 


PART  II. 
TESTIMONY  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 


PEELIMINARY. 

IN  undertaking  to  demonstrate  the  harmony  existing 
between  the  statements  of  Revelation  and  the  discoveries 
of  Science,  it  seems  proper  that  their  difference  in  aim  and 
object  should  first  be  distinctly  recognized.  It  has  been 
said  by  one  of  the  oracles  of  human  wisdom 1  that  "  the 
scope  or  purpose  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  not  to  express 
matters  of  nature  in  Scripture  otherwise  than  in  passage, 
for  application  to  man's  capacity,  and  to  matters  moral  and 
divine."  Had  this  indisputable  maxim  been  borne  in  mind, 
many  of  the  unhappy  controversies  which  have  occurred 
between  the  votaries  of  Science  and  the  friends  of  the 
Bible  would  have  been  avoided.  For  it  enunciates  a  prin- 
ciple which  is  the  true  key  to  the  relations  of  Scripture  and 
Science.  It  was  no  part  of  the  design  of  the  sacred  writers 
to  communicate  scientific  truth.  The  mission  with  which 
they  were  charged  was  of  a  far  higher  character.  It  was 
to  announce  the  claims  and  declare  the  will  of  God  as  the 
moral  Governor  of  the  universe,  and  to  prepare  a  chart 
whereby  man  might  be  guided  in  reference  to  his  eternal 
destiny.  It  was  to  unfold  the  mysteries,  not  of  the  kingr 
dom  of  nature,  but  of  grace.  Hence,  when  they  have  occa- 

1  Lord  Bacon. 
4 


74  TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

sion  to  refer  to  "  matters  of  nature  in  passage,"  they  simply 
mention  a  fact  as  it  appears,  without  any  regard  to  scien- 
tific accuracy  of  expression.  They  never  use  the  dialect  of 
the  schools,  but  speak  of  all  the  appearances  and  phenomena 
of  nature  in  popular  and  optical  language,  "not  as  they 
would  be  seen  by  us  were  we  placed  in  the  sun ;  but  as 
they  are  represented  by  our  human  senses  in  our  present 
relative  position."  l  It  is  thus  they  tell  us  that  "  the  sun 
stood  still  over  against  Gibeon,  and  the  moon  in  the  valley 
of  Ajalon."  For  it  was  only  such  an  expression  that  would 
be  understood  by  those  for  whom  it  was  intended.  It  is 
the  common  language  which  mankind  have  used  in  all  ages, 
and  will  continue  to  use.  And  if  the  most  profound  as- 
tronomers of  the  present  day  had  occasion  to  speak  of  such 
phenomena  as  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun,  they  would 
doubtless  ignore  the  true  theory  of  the  solar  system.  More- 
over, it  should  also  be  considered  that  for  the  inspired 
writers  to  have  done  otherwise, — to  have  taught  the  truths 
or  corrected  the  errors  of  science,  and  thus  have  thrown 
light  upon  the  paths  of  physical  research,  would  have  coun- 
teracted the  divine  plan  for  the  disciplining  and  training  of 
man,  and  the  gradual  and  timely  development  of  the  activi- 
ties of  his  intellect. 

The  divine  wisdom  is  manifested,  therefore,  in  ordering 
that  the  references  in  the  Bible  to  the  facts  and  phenomena 
of  the  natural  world  should  be,  as  the  nature  of  the  case 
demanded,  conventional,  not  scientific,  expressed  in  the  uni- 
versal language  of  appearances,  and  therefore  capable  of 
being  understood  by  the  unlettered,  and  in  ages  wholly 
ignorant  of  science.  The  absence  of  scientific  accuracy  by 
no  means  involves  any  real  discrepancy  or  contradiction. 
There  may  be  a  seeming  variance  between  the  glowing 
allusions  of  the  sacred  writers  to  the  beautiful  phenomenon 
of  the  dew  and  the  true  theory  of  its  formation,  but  it  is 

1  Coleridge's  Aids  to  Reflection. 


TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE.  75 

seeming  only.  While,  however,  there  are  passages  of  this 
sort,  in  which  strictly  philosophical  language,  until  com- 
paratively recent  times,  would  have  made  Scripture  a 
stumbling  block  both  to  the  learned  and  unlearned,  there 
are  also  numerous  others  containing  statements  which  ex- 
hibit a  remarkable  agreement  with  modern  discovery.  The 
laws  and  processes  of  nature  are  unfolded  nowhere  in  its 
pages,  so  as  to  render  human  inquiry  and  toil  unnecessary ; 
but  by  the  light  of  modern  science  we  are  now  enabled  to 
perceive  that  in  the  pregnant  expressions  uttered  ages  ago 
by  the  inspired  writers,  truths  lay  concealed,  the  discovery 
of  which  by  slow  and  laborious  processes  of  investigation, 
has  immortalized  not  a  few  of  the  world's  master  minds. 
The  secrets  which  they  have  won  from  the  domain  of  the 
material  universe  were  already  in  the  sacred  word,  "  not 
indeed  in  all  the  minute  particulars  which  the  wants  and 
wishes  and  growth  of  human  society  should  age  by  age 
develop,  but  there  in  evidence  to  show  that  the  hundred 
gates  of  Science,  as  applied  to  nature,  were  opened  by  a 
divine  and  gracious  hand,  that  man  might  enter  in,  and 
walk  its  golden  streets,  or  reap  its  wide-spread  fields."  1 

It  is  proposed,  therefore,  in  the  three  following  chapters 
of  the  present  work,  to  vindicate  the  Bible  against  the 
objections  which  have  been  drawn  from  the  discoveries  of 
Physical  Science,  not  merely  by  showing  that  seeming  con- 
tradictions may  be  explained  by  referring  to  the  use  of 
optical  and  conventional  language,  but  that  many  of  thoso 
discoveries  have  been  anticipated  in  its  statements,  in  a 
manner  which  unmistakably  indicates  the  presence  of  an 
Omniscient  Mind.  As  Astronomy  and  Geology  have  been 
supposed  to  be  especially  antagonistic  to  Revelation,  the 
testimony  of  those  sciences  will  be  separately  examined ; 
after  which  another  chapter  will  be  occupied  with  a  setting 

i  Lecture  on  Religion  and  Science  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Mason,  D.D. 


76  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

forth  of  the  contrast  which  the  Bible  exhibits,  viewed  in 
its  scientific  relations,  to  the  religious  books  of  the  heathen 
and  ancient  systems  of  philosophy, — additional  allusions  to 
physical  phenomena, — and  its  recognition  of  those  great 
primary  and  leading  principles  which  are  the  ultimate  results 
of  Science. 


CHAPTEE   I. 

ASTRONOMY. 

THE  Heavens,  which  "  declare  the  glory  of  God,"  have 
been  invoked  by  the  infidel  to  disparage  the  authority  of 
His  word,  and  the  unenlightened  zeal  of  not  a  few  of  its 
advocates  for  a  time  favored  the  idea  that  a  real  hostility 
did  exist  between  that  sublime  science  which  seeks  an  in- 
telligent acquaintance  with  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  sky, 
and  the  sacred  oracles.  The  progress  of  scientific  discovery 
and  the  establishment  of  the  true  principles  of  interpreta- 
tion have,  however,  as  will  be  shown,  removed  the  apparent 
contradictions  and  demonstrated  their  entire  harmony. 

A  seeming  collision  between  the  Bible  and  Astronomical 
Science  was  found  in  the  use  of  the  word  which  in  our 
translation  is  rendered  "  firmament."  It  is  well  known  that 
according  to  the  philosophy  of  the  ancients,  the  heavens 
are  a  mighty  and  vaulted  arch  of  transparent  solid  matter 
in  which  the  fixed  stars  are  firmly  riveted,  and  which  with 
them  performs  a  daily  revolution  round  the  earth  as  a 
centre.  The  planets  which  move  in  an  opposite  direction 
were  supposed  to  belong  to  a  lower  and  nearer  region.  In 
'accordance  with  this  view,  the  Latin  Vulgate  renders  the 
original  Hebrew  word  "  firmamentum,"  which  is  an  exact 
synonym  of  the  word  "  stereoma  "  used  in  the  Greek  Sep- 
tuagint,  and  both  signify  something  firm  and  solid.  Jose- 
phus  also  (Antiquities,  Book  I,  c.  i,  §  1)  evidently  under- 
stood the  Scriptures  to  teach  that  at  the  creation  the  earth 


78  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

was  surrounded  with  a  "  crystalline  firmament "  or  vault. 
While  the  true  system  of  the  universe  remained  unknown, 
the  language  of  the  Bible  on  this  point  seemed  to  accord 
with  what  was  then  known  of  science.  But  when,  in  the 
light  of  advancing  discovery,  the  figment  of  a  crystalline 
vault  above  us  vanishes  like  a  dream  of  the  night,  a  seem- 
ing contradiction  is  disclosed  between  the  "Word  and  the 
Works  of  God.  How  is  it  to  be  met  ?  The  usual  explanation 
has  been  that  Moses  here  used  the  language  of  appearances, 
and  that  he  accommodated  the  expression  to  the  notions 
current  in  the  time  in  which  he  lived.  This  has  generally 
been  acquiesced  in  as  satisfactory.  Recently,  however,  Mr. 
Goodwin,  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  celebrated  "  Essays 
and  Reviews,"  apparently  supposing  that  the  word  admitted 
of  no  other  interpretation,  has  taken  pains  to  show  that  it 
is  "  irreconcilable  with  the  discoveries  of  modern  Astron- 
omy." This  is  an  instance,  however,  of  misdirected  zeal, 
for  upon  turning  to  the  Hebrew  Bible,  we  find  that  the 
word  originally  used  by  the  inspired  writer,  does  not 
necessarily  mean  a  solid  mass,  but  should  be  translated 
"  expanse."  "  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  an  expanse  in 
the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from 
the  waters.  And  God  made  the  expanse.  .  .  .  And 
God  called  the  expanse  heaven."  We  thus  find  that  the 
sacred  historian  of  the  Creation  has  been  misunderstood, 
and  that  the  word  he  employs  is  the  best  possible  that 
could  have  been  selected  to  express  both  the  appearance 
and  the  actual  celestial  arrangement.  Instead  of  contra- 
dicting, the  Bible  has  here  anticipated  science. 

A  like  result  has  attended  the  once  famous  controversy 
respecting  the  motion  of  the  earth.  Three  centuries  ago, 
another  principle  of  the  scientific  creed  of  the  ancients — that 
the  earth  was  the  immovable  centre  of  the  celestial  mech- 
anism, and  that  all  the  heavenly  bodies  were  created  for  its 
use — remained  undisturbed.  Under  the  influence  of  Aris- 


ASTRONOMY.  79 

totle,  it  had  become  an  indisputable  axiom  in  the  human 
mind,  and  his  dogma  was  supposed  to  be  the  doctrine  of 
the  Bible.  When,  therefore,  the  discoveries  df  Copernicus, 
Kepler,  and  Galileo  overturned  the  error  of  the  Stagirite, 
and  demonstrated  the  motion  of  our  planet  round  the  sun, 
the  innovation  upon  the  established  opinions  of  mankind 
was  denounced  as  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  faith. 
The  Bible  was  held  to  be  committed  to  the  Aristotelian 
dogma,  by  such  passages  as  that  in  which  David  has  sung 
that  "  God  hath  established  the  earth  upon  its  foundations ;  /) 
it  shall  not  be  moved  forever  and  ever.  The  going  forth f/j  /-g  •  t 
of  the  sun  is  from  end  of  the  heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto 
the  ends  of  it."  Solomon  also  had  said :  "  One  generation 
passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh ;  but  the 
earth  abideth  forever."  The  promulgation  of  the  supposed 
heresy  elicited  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  and  "  the  illus- 
trious Galileo  was  sent  to  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition 
for  thinking,"  as  Milton  says,  "in  Astronomy  otherwise 
than  the  Franciscan  and  Dominican  licensers  thought." 
And  among  Protestants,  divines  of  such  ability,  learning, 
and  piety  as  Calvin  and  Turretin,  held  it  to  be  antiscriptu- 
ral  to  disbelieve  the  immobility  of  the  earth.  Yet  out  of 
this  supposed  conflict  with  what  is  now  universally  re- 
garded as  a  true  Astronomy,  the  Bible  has  come  unscathed. 
It  is  now  seen  that  there  is  no  real  collision.  The  solution 
is,  that  in  this  case  as  in  others,  the  sacred  writers  avoided 
scientific  phraseology  and  used  the  language  of  appearances. 
They  were  guided  to  speak  intelligibly  to  learned  and  un- 
learned. 

But  more  than  this  can  be  claimed.  In  one  of  the 
very  passages  above  cited,  which  was  supposed  to  contain 
a  contradiction  to  science,  one  of  the  greatest  discov- 
eries of  science  is  plainly  recognized,  or  at  least  implied. 
In  order  to  make  this  appear,  it  should  be  stated  that  the 
sacred  writers  elsewhere  teach  the  globular  form  of  the 


80  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

earth,  and  that  it  is  suspended  upon  nothing,  or  on  a  bot- 
tomless space.  "When,  therefore,  the  Psalmist  says  that 
God  hath  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  that  it  should 
not  be  removed  forever,  what  is  this  but  a  recognition  of 
the  mighty  law  of  gravitation,  demonstrated  by  Newton, 
whereby  the  planets  are  held  in  their  orbits  ? 

i 

"  All  intellectual  eye,  our  solar  round 
First  gazing  through,  he  by  the  blended  power 
Of  gravitation  and  projection  saw 
The  whole  in  silent  harmony  revolve." — THOMSON. 

This  view  finds  further  corroboration  in  the  sublime  in- 
terrogatory addressed  by  the  Deity  to  the  patriarch  in  the 
38th  chapter  of  the  book  of  Job :  "  Who  shut  up  the  sea 
with  doors  when  it  rushed  forth  and  came  out  of  the  womb  ? 
When  I  made  the  cloud  its  garment,  and  the  haraphel  or 
thickest  darkness  its  swathing  band  ?  When  I  brake  upon 
it  my  decree,  and  put  bars  and  doors,  and  said,  Hitherto 
shalt  thou  come  and  no  farther,  and  here  shalt  thou  stop  in 
the  proud  swelling  of  thy  waves."  What  is  this  but  the 
same  universal  law  impressed  by  the  Almighty  upon  matter 
at  the  Creation,  by  which  the  relation  between  land  and  sea 
is  permanently  established,  and  without  which  the  waters 
would  toss  and  overspread  the  earth,  so  as  to  render  it  un- 
inhabitable. This  exquisite  adjustment  thus  sublimely  set 
forth  in  the  world's  oldest  poem,  it  has  been  one  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  modern  science  to  demonstrate  and 
establish. 

In  the  following  interrogatory  in  the  same  chapter,  we 
find  another  anticipation  of  one  of  the  remarkable  achieve- 
ments of  modern  discovery :  "  Hast  thou  commanded  the 
morning  and  made  the  day-spring  to  know  his  place  ?  " 
The  reference  here  is  to  two  facts  which  modern  science 
has  ascertained,  but  which  could  have  been  known  then 
only  to  an  Omniscient  Mind — the  stability  of  the  earth's 


ASTKONOMY.  81 

axis  and  the  uniformity  of  the  earth's  rotation.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  question  may  be  thus  expressed :  "  Hast  thou  so 
constituted  the  earth  that  it  should  revolve  on  its  axis,  and 
made  it  to  move  with  such  wonderful  precision  ?  "  It  is 
now  known  that  the  earth  preserves  a  perfect  uniformity  in 
its  rotation  on  its  axis.  And  but  for  this  it  is  evident  that 
the  morning  would  not  know  its  place,  nor  would  there  be 
any  regularity  in  the  rising  or  setting  of  the  stars,  which 
depended  on  the  above  conditions.  But  with  such  unerr- 
ing exactness  has.  this  uniformity  been  preserved,  that  cal- 
culation has  shown  that  for  two  thousand  years  it  could 
not  have  varied  the  one  hundredth  part  of  a  second  of  time. 
And  God's  covenant  of  the  day  and  night  is  elsewhere 
brought  forward  in  Scripture  as  the  peculiar  emblem  of 
God's  faithfulness  to  his  promises.  "  If  ye  can  break  my 
covenant  of  the  day  and  my  covenant  of  the  night,  and  that 
there  should  not  be  day  and  night  in  their  season,  then  may 
also  my  covenant  be  broken  with  David  my  servant." 
Change  is  written  on  all  the  other  phenomena  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  this  is  the  only  ordinance  of  fixed,  immutable  sta- 
bility. But  certainly  in  the  times  of  the  patriarch  Job, 
that  fact  could  have  been  known  only  to  God.1 

When  the  Scriptures  speak  of  the  stars  in  the  aggre- 
gate, the  same  supernatural  knowledge  is  revealed.  It 
compares  their  number  to  the  sand.  "As  the  hosts  of 
Heaven  cannot  be  numbered  nor  the  sands  of  the  sea 
measured." l  (Jeremiah  xxxiii,  22.)  But  this  is  a  fact  which 
has  only  been  known  since  the  discoveries  of  modern 
science  have  made  us  aware  how  vast  the  scale  on  which 
the  universe  is  built.  The  ancient  astronomer  Hippar- 
chus  fixed  the  number  of  stars  at  1022,  which  was  in- 
creased by  the  later  observations  of  Ptolemy  to  1026.  It 
is  now  ascertained  that  in  our  latitude,  during  the  clearest 
night,  only  1160  stars  are  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  while 
1  Prof.  Mitchell's  Lectures  on  Astronomj. 


82  TESTIMONY   OP  SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

an  observer  watching  all  night  at  the  equator,  may  be  able 
to  number  about  three  thousand.  But  the  discoveries  of 
the  telescope,  still  recent,  have  enabled  us  to  realize  that 
the  declaration  of  Holy  Scripture  uttered  so  many  ages 
back,  is  more  than  a  figure  of  speech.  It  is  calculated  that 
the  mighty  disc  of  Lord  Rosse's  instrument  has  augmented 
the  magnitude  of  the  stellar  universe  125,000,000  times. 
"  God,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  after  a  telescopic  survey 
of  the  groups  of  stars  and  nebulae  in  the  vast  fields  of  space, 
"  has  scattered  them  like  glittering  dust  on  the  black  ground 
of  the  general  heavens." 

" Depth,  height,  breadth, 

Are  lost  in  their  extremes,  and  where  to  count 
The  thick  sown  glories  in  these  fields  of  fire 
Perhaps  a  seraph's  computation  fails." 

From  this  wondrous  disclosure  of  science,  infidelity  has 
drawn,  however,  what  has  been  considered  as  one  of  the 
most  formidable  objections  against  Revelation,  requiring, 
therefore,  a  somewhat  extended  examination. 

When  from  the  improvements  in  the  telescope  and  the 
discoveries  of  Galileo  and  his  successors,  the  illimitable  ex- 
tent and  marvellous  grandeur  of  the  physical  universe  had 
dawned  upon  human  conception,  the  sceptical  objection 
was  soon  advanced  that  it  was  extravagant  and  incredible 
to  suppose  that  amid  the  millions  of  globes  which  are  scat- 
tered through  the  vast  domains  of  space,  one  of  the  least 
considerable  should  be  singled  out  as  a  special  scene  of  the 
Creator's  care  and  kindness.  Is  it  probable,  the  sceptic 
argued,  that  the  infinite  Ruler  of  such  a  multiplicity  of 
worlds  and  systems,  many  of  them  far  grander  than  our 
own,  is  it  probable,  that  He  would  send  his  coequal  Son  to 
die  for  a  single  rebellious  race,  the  entire  loss  of  which 
would  no  more  be  missed,  than  the  fall  of  a  withered  leaf 
impairs  the  honors  of  the  forest  or  the  removal  of  a  single 
gram  would  diminish  the  sand  of  the  sea  shore  ?  "  Is  it 


.ASTRONOMY.  83 

not  as  absurd  to  maintain  this,  as  it  would  be  to  hold  at  the 
present  day  the  old  Ptolemaic  hypothesis,  according  to 
which  the  earth  is  the  centre  of  the  vast  mechanism  of  the 
universe,  instead  of  the  newer  Copernican  doctrine,  which 
teaches  that  the  earth  revolves  round  the  sun  ?  And  is  not 
the  book  in  which  so  incredible  an  assumption  is  to  be 
found,  thereby  necessarily  disproved  ?  " 

To  the  answering  of  this  objection,  Dr.  Chalmers  ad- 
dressed himself  in  his  celebrated  discourses  on  "  the  Modern 
Astronomy."  A  brief  abstract  of  his  course  of  argument 
may  serve  to  show  how  conclusively  he  demonstrated  its 
fallacy. 

After  a  brilliant  sketch  of  the  wonders  of  the  heavens, 
he  enters  upon  his  reply  by  showing  that  the  objection  is 
utterly  alien  to  "  the  modesty  of  true  science,"  that  it  in- 
deed violates  the  first  rule  of  the  now  universally  accepted 
inductive  philosophy,  since  it  must  necessarily  rest  upon  an 
unproved  assertion.  How  does  the  infidel  know  that 
Christianity  was  designed  for  this  world  only  ?  If  he  can- 
not demonstrate*this  primary  fact,  all  his  reasoning  falls  to 
the  ground.  Who  is  authorized  by  the  possession  of  super- 
human information,  to  tell  us  that  in  any  of  the  bright 
worlds  that  stud  the  firmament  above  us,  the  name  and 
religion  of  Jesus  are  unknown  ?  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
probable,  that  the  moral  influence  of  the  wondrous  plan 
of  Redemption  is  felt  and  was  designed  to  be  felt,  to  the 
remotest  bounds  of  Creation.  We  are  justified  in  believing 
that  the  Cross  of  Christ  not  merely  secures  a  glorious  sal- 
vation to  perishing  sinners  of  earth,  but  attracts  the  won- 
dering gaze  of  other  worlds,  and  may,  by  the  lessons  which 
it  teaches,  be  the  means  of  confirming  myriads  of  unfallen, 
sinless  beings  in  their  allegiance  to  God.  In  the  divine 
moral  government  of  the  universe  a  problem  had  been  pre- 
sented, to  the  solution  of  which  the  highest  created  intelli- 
gence was  unequal.  Man  created  perfect  and  in  the  image 


84  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

of  God,  had  transgressed.  How  shall  he  be  restored? 
Infinite  justice  demanded  the  death  of  the  offender.  Yet 
the  misery  of  his  creature  appealed  to  the  mercy  of  God. 
How  shall  these  jarring  claims  be  reconciled  ?  u  A  medium 
is  required ;  it  is  found.  The  Word,  the  Revealer  and  the 
Glorifier  of  the  Father,  is  made  flesh ;  he  lives  on  earth,  he 
suffers,  he  dies ;  but  in  dying,  as  his  bleeding  head  falls  on 
his  quivering  breast,  the  divine  harp  is  struck ;  and  while 
the  curtain  is  darkly  descending  on  Nature  and  her  dying 
Lord,  the  chords  of  justice  and  of  mercy  roll  forth  their 
blended  notes  that  echo  through  every  circling  sphere,  to 
the  most  distant  regions  of  the  peopled  universe."  Those 
glorious  and  happy  intelligences,  who,  safe  in  their  original 
purity,  had  beheld  with  transport  the  wonders  of  Creation 
and  Providence,  were  now  called  to  see  the  still  greater 
wonders  of  Grace  and  salvation.  The  unfolding  of  such  a 
mystery  might  well  employ  their  eager  and  delighted  con- 
templation. Were  it  possible  for  a  planet  by  some  convul- 
sion to  be  driven  from  its  orbit,  and  tl^n  restored  by 
Omnipotence  to  its  allotted  pathway  in  the  heavens,  such  a 
phenomenon  would  be  observed  with  the  deepest  interest 
and  regarded  by  men  of  science  as  worthy  of  the  most 
profound  investigation.  But  as  far  as  mind  is  superior  to 
matter,  such  an  event  shrinks  into  insignificance  when 
compared  with  the  restoration  of  an  alienated,  rebel  race 
of  accountable  beings,  wandered  far  from  holiness  and  God, 
to  the  one,  harmonious,  unchanging  system  of  love  and 
righteousness.1  The  poet  only  echoes  the  common  voice 
of  mankind  when  he  says  : 

"  Behold  this  midnight  splendor,  worlds  on  worlds ; 
Ten  thousand  add,  and  twice  ten  thousand  more, 

1  The  thought  contained  in  the  above  illustration  has  been  thus  impres- 
sively presented  by  an  eminent  living  preacher,  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall  of 
London :  "  God  is  the  grand  centre  of  attraction,  the  only  fountain  of  life  and 
love  to  all  holy  souls.  Toward  Him  they  adoringly  look — round  Him  they 


ASTRONOMY.  85 

Then  weigh  the  whole :  one  soul  outweighs  them  all, 
And  call  the  seeming  vast  magnificence 
Of  unintelligent  creation  poor." 

Moreover,  we  are  expressly  informed  in  the  inspired 
word,  that  "the  angels"  do  "desire  to  look  into"  the 
mysteries  of  Redemption,  and  that  among  the  ends  con- 
templated by  the  mighty  plan  of  Grace,  it  was  designed, 
"  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places  might  be  known  ^by  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God." 

If  these  considerations  are  thought  insufficient  to  meet 
the  difficulty,  it  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  "God's 
ways  and  thoughts  are  not  ours,"  and  we  shall  greatly  err, 
if  we  suppose  that  our  estimate  of  what  is  small  or  great, 

reverently  revolve — in  His  radiance  alone  they  shine.  Obeying  his  laws 
they  move  in  harmony  with  the  great  universe — they  roll  on  without  rub  in 
the  grand  mechanism  of  the  diviae  purposes ;  and  with  voices  more  real  and 
jubilant  than  the  music  of  the  spheres,  they  evermore,  in  rapturous  hallelu- 
jahs, express  their  own  gladness  and  their  Creator's  praise.  But  should  any 
of  these,  in  wilful  disobedience,  break  loose  from  that  spiritual  gravitation, 
which,  being  voluntary,  is  capable  of  being  resisted — should  any  soul  turn 
away  from  the  Central  Sun  to  gaze  on  other  objects  in  regions  beyond  its 
orbit — should  the  hist  after  forbidden  objects,  wilfully  and  wickedly  encour- 
aged, engender  an  anomalous  centrifugal  force,  causing  it  to  break  loose  from 
that  gravitation  toward  the  Deity  on  which  the  order  and  happiness  of  the 
moral  universe  depend, — could  such  a  soul  expect  to  enjoy  the  same  privileges 
and  security  as  before?  Rushing  from  the  light,  must  it  not  now  roam  on  in 
gloom — one  degree  of  darkness  ever  leading  to  another  more  deep?  The 
golden  chain  of  love  which  hitherto  bound  it  to  the  Eternal  Throne  being 
broken,  instead  of  circulating  around  that  throne  radiant  in  its  glories,  must 
it  not  now  pursue  its  solitary,  ignominious  course ;  and  having  forsaken  the 
happy  path  of  obedience,  plunge  wildly  on  in  its  own  self-chosen*  career, 
destruction  its  final  and  inevitable  doom  ? 

"  If  a  planet  under  such  circumstances  could  not  be  brought  back ;  yet, 
thanks  be  to  God,  a  wandering  sinner  can.  For  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
comes  after  the  wanderer  to  draw  him  once  more  into  his  true  orbit — the  at- 
tracting centre  pursues  the  guilty  fugitive  as  he  rushes  away  from  light  and 
joy.  Jesus  came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  Yield  to  the  attractions  of 
His  cross,  and  He  will  replace  you  in  your  true  orbit." — Exeter  Hall  Lectures, 
1859. 


"       OT 


86  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

can  be  entertained  by  a  Being  who  is  infinite  in  all  perfec- 
tions. To  us,  indeed,  the  cedars  of  Libanus  may  seem  more 
striking  and  majestic  than  the  little  hyssop  which  spring- 
eth  out  of  the  wall ;  arid  the  Leviathan  which  "  maketh  the 
deep  to  boil  like  a  pot,"  more  than  the  conies  which  are  a 
"  feeble  folk  and  make  their  dwelling  among  the  rocks." 
But  .let  us  not  imagine  that  He  who  made  them  all,  is  influ- 
enced in  his  care  and  attention  to  all,  by  the  respective 
magnitude  of  each.  The  inconceivable  extent  of  his  do- 
minions does  not  necessarily  lessen  the  interest  which  he 
feels  in  particular  portions.  He  can  at  the  same  moment 
watch  over  the  revolutions  of  worlds  and  the  fall  of  a  spar- 
row ;  and  it  is  in  keeping  with  what  we  elsewhere  see  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  minute  as  well  as  in  the  vast,  not 
only  in  the  sublimities  of  Alps  and  Andes,  but  also  in  the 
lustre  of  an  insect's  wing,  and  in  the  curious  aqueducts  by 
which  a  leaf  is  nourished, — that  He  should  thus  lavish  the 
treasures  of  his  wisdom  and  his  grace,  to  rescue  from  a  ruin, 
otherwise  irretrievable,  even  this  humble  province  of  his 
universal  empire.  As  the  largest  telescope  is  insufficient 
to  carry  the  power  of  human  vision  to  the  remotest  bounds 
of  creation,  but  leaves  it  where  mighty  systems  dwindle  to 
a  faint  nebulous  speck  of  light,  so  have  we  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  most  powerful  microscope  that  ever  has  been 
or  will  be  constructed,  will  be  altogether  unable  to  guide 
our  views  to  the  utmost  limits  in  the  descendiny  scale  of 
creation.  If  the  one  has  brought  into  view  worlds  as  nu- 
merous as  the  drops  of  water  which  make  up  the  ocean ; 
the  other  has  brought  into  view  a  world  in  almost  every 
drop  of  water.1  And  in  the  mechanism  of  that  h'ttle  world 

1  "  Professor  Ehrenberg,"  says  Mrs.  Somerville,  "  has  discovered  a  new 
world  of  creatures  in  the  infusoria,  so  minute  that  they  are  invisible  to  the 
naked  eye.  He  found  them  in  fog,  rain,  and  snow,  in  the  ocean  and  stagnant 
water,  in  animal  and  vegetable  juices,  in  volcanic  ashes  and  pumice,  in  opal, 
in  the  dusty  air  that-  sometimes  falls  upon  the  ocean  ;  and  he  detected 
eighteen  species  twenty  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  peat  earth, 


ASTRONOMY.  87 

and  its  myriads  of  inhabitants,  we  behold  the  same  display 
of  wisdom  and  benevolence,  the  same  elaborate  skill  and 
contrivance,  which  are  shown  in  the  construction  of  the 
elephant  or  the  whale,  or  in  those  mighty  globes  that  float 
around  us  in  the  sky.  If  the  telescope  has  more  fully  un- 
folded to  us  the  meaning  of  the  inspired  declaration,  "  He 
telleth  the  number  of  the  stars  and  calleth  them  all  by  their 
names  ;"  the  microscope  enables  to  perceive  a  deeper  sense 
in  the  answering  utterance,  "  Even  the  very  hairs  of  your 
head  are  all  numbered."  And  the  combined  lesson  of  both 
is  that  "  we  are  in  the  midst  of  being,  whose  amount,  per- 
haps, we  cannot  estimate,  but  which  is  yet  all  so  exqui- 
sitely related,  that  the  perfection  of  its  parts  has  no  depend- 
ence upon  their  magnitude ;  of  being  within  whose  august 
bosom  the  little  ant  has  its  home,  secure  as  the  path  of  the 
most  splendid  star  ;  and  whose  mightiest  intervals — if  Infi- 
nite Power  has  built  up  its  framework — Infinite  Mercy 
and  Infinite  Love  glowingly  fill,  and  give  all  things  warmth, 
and  lustre,  and  life — the  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  to" 
whom  an  atom  is  a  world,  and  a  world  an  atom."  There 
would  certainly  be  force  in  the  objection  we  are  considering, 
if  man  were  to  rest  his  claim  to  such  an  astonishing  display 
of  mercy  and  love  as  the  scheme  of  Redemption  unfolds, 
upon  any  excellency  of  his  own  or  upon  the  importance  of 
the  position  which  he  holds  in  the  scale  of  creation.  But 
his  claim,  if  so  it  can  be  called,  is  of  a  far  different  kind  and 
derived  from  a  different  principle,  and  becomes  so  much 
the  stronger  as  science  extends  its  empire.  His  title  is 

which  was  full  of  microscopic  live  animals ;  they  exist  in  ice,  and  are  not 
killed  by  boiling  water.  This  lowest  order  of  animal  life  is  much  more  ^bun- 
dant  than  any  other,  and  new  species  are  fonnd  every  day.  Magnified,  some 
of  them  seem  to  consist  of  a  transparent  vesicle,  and  some  have  a  tail ;  they 
move  with  great  alacrity,  and  show  intelligence  by  avoiding  obstacles  in  their 
course ;  others  have  silicious  shells.  Language,  and  even  imagination,  fails 
in  the  attempt  to  describe  the  inconceivable  myriads  of  these  invisible  inhab- 
itants of  the  ocean,  the  air,  and  the  earth."— Physical  Geography. 


88  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

derived  from  his  own  necessity  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  from  the  infinite  love  and  compassion  of  Him  who 
came  from  Heaven  to  save.  If  that  love  could  be  measured 
by  a  human  standard,  if  the  goings  forth  of  its  tenderness 
and  mercy  could  be  elicited  only  by  the  high  qualities  of 
the  being  in  whose  behalf  it  is  exercised,  it  might  be  in 
harmony  with  man's  conceptions  and  estimates,  but  it  would 
not  be  the  mercy  of  God.  It  would  not  be  that  mercy  of 
which  man  knoweth  not  the  height  nor  depth,  nor  length 
nor  breadth,  a  mercy  which  left  the  angels  to  perish  while- 
it  redeemed  man,  and  which  is  so  touchingly  illustrated  by 
our  Lord's  parables  concerning  the  "  lost  piece  of  silver," 
and  the  "  one  lost  sheep,"  to  seek  and  to  save  which,  the 
shepherd  left  "  the  ninety  and  nine  which  went  not  astray." 
The  lower  the  place  assigned  man  in  the  scale  of  the 
Creator's  works,  and  the  more  Science  expands  that  crea- 
tion in  widening  circles  around  him,  the  more  his  redemp- 
tion becomes  in  harmony  with  the  Creator's  attributes,  and 
the  deeper  and  more  profound  the  meaning  we  can  recog- 
nize in  the  language  with  which  the  Psalmist  expresses  his 
astonishment  at  the  Divine  Condescension :  "  When  I  con- 
sider thy  heavens,  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the  moon  and 
the  stars  which  Thou  hast  ordained ;  what  is  man  that 
Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?  and  the  son  of  man  that  Thou 
visitest  him  ?"  "  As  is  His  majesty,  so  is  His  mercy." 

The  infidel  objection  from  the  vastness  of  the  material 
universe  has  been  thus  conclusively  met  and  answered  by 
considerations  drawn  from  science  itself.  Yet  another  ar- 
gument, perhaps,  not  less  convincing,  may  be  deduced  from 
the  analogies  of  the  word  of  God.  The  stupendous  humilia- 
tion*bf  the  Incarnation  is  in  entire  harmony  with  all  the 
other  facts  which  marked  the  early  life  of  Immanuel.  It 
was  wholly  destitute  of  human  pomp  and  grandeur.  "No 
unearthly  palace  was  let  down  from  the  skies  to  be  his 
dwelling  place.  No  monarch  was  driven  from  his  throne 


ASTRONOMY.  89 

% 

for  him  to  occupy  it.  A  stable  was  his  first  habitation  and 
his  first  couch  was  spread  among  the  beasts  of  the  stall.  The 
far  greater  portion  of  his  life  was  spent  in  obscurity,  and 
all  in  poverty.  A  few  poor  fishermen  were  his  attendants ; 
his  only  crown,  a  crown  of  thorns ;  a  reed  given  him  in 
derision  was  his  sceptre ;  a  cross  of  ignominy  was  his 
throne.  If  then  the  mystery  of  godliness  is  great,  it  is  so 
throughout.  From  the  manger  to  the  cross  and  the  grave, 
it  is  one  harmonious  whole.  But  from  all  these  scenes  of 
wondrous  humiliation  a  divine  glory  streams,  conveying  to 
the  mind  of  every  earnest  seel*er  after  truth  irresistible 
conviction  that  in  that  lowly  suffering  form,  God  taber- 
nacled with  men.  Let  it  be  then  that  our  earth  is  but  a 
little  world — that,  like  its  own  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  it 
shrinks  from  comparison  with  thousands  of  its  sister  spheres 
— that  "  it  does  not  swell  so  largely  to  the  eye,  or  shine  so 
brightly  to  the  night,"  yet  since  it  has  been  ennobled  by 
the  events  of  Gethsemane  and  Calvary,  not  the  less  may 
we  feel  assured  that  as  an  object  of  interest  it  eclipses  them 
all.  Since  it  received  the  visit  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  the 
eye  of  the  universe,  the  entire  globe  is  a  Holy  Land. 

But  not  only  have  the  discoveries  of  Astronomy  been 
urged  as  inconsistent  with  the  revealed  plan  of  Redemption, 
modern  infidelity  has  sought  to  find  in  the  same  sublime 
science  proofs  and  arguments  wherewith  to  assail  the  Bible 
doctrine  of  creation.  The  great  Lord  Bacon  "  would  rather 
believe  all  the  fables  in  the  Legend,  and  Talmud  and  Al- 
coran, than  that  this  universal  frame  is  without  a  mind ; " 
but  philosophers  of  the  present  age  have  sought  to  demon- 
strate and  establish  an  hypothesis,  whereby  the  system  of 
the  universe  with  all  its  varied  phenomena  might  be  ex- 
plained and  accounted  for  by  the  operation  of  physical  laws 
to  the  exclusion  of  divine*,  creative  agency.  "  By  the  aid 
of  the  so-called  '  Nebular  Theory,'  unnumbered  assaults 
have  been  made  upon  the  Old  Testament ;  and  we  were 


90  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

assured,  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  that  it  would  soon  be 
exploded  altogether.  Feeling  himself  impregnable  while 
standing  upon  that  theory  for  his  basis,  'the  inductive 
Philosopher'  very  confidently  asserted  'that  there  never 
had  been  such  a  thing  as  creation,  in  the  generally  received 
sense  of  the  term ; '  and  transferred  us  from  the  dominion 
of  Jehovah  to  that  of  some  unintelligent  and  inexorable 
'  law,'  or  of  some  Oriental  boodha,  who,  having  called  the 
principles  of  nature  into  existence,  and  set  them  a-going, 
retired  into  quiescence  forever."  l 

As  the  doctrine  of  an*  all-wise  and  almighty  God,  the 
Creator  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible,  is  the  fundamen- 
tal truth  of  all  religion,  natural  and  revealed,  it  will  be  per- 
tinent to  the  design  of  the  present  work  to  examine  this 
theory,  and  also  to  bring  forward  some  of  the  evidences  of 
creative  design  which  Astronomy  presents. 

The  idea  that  nebulae  or  loose  masses  of  fiery  vapor, 
which  seemed  to  be  floating  in  the  depths  of  remote  space, 
might  form  the  materials  out  of  which  were  gradually 
elaborated  suns  and  planets,  was  an  original  conception  of 
the  illustrious  discoverer,  Sir  William  Herschel,  though- 
without  any  thought  by  him  of  the  use  to  which  it  could 
be  applied.  It  was  caught  at  and  adopted  by  the  great 
French  Astronomer  Laplace,  and  having  been  by  his  labors 
brought  into  definite  and  tangible  form,  as  a  theory  it  is 
associated  with  his  name.  It  supposes  that  loose  masses  of 
nebulous  vapor,  at  first  without  definite  form  or  movement, 
gradually  assumed  by  virtue  of  gravitation,  a  regular  sphe- 
roidal and  rotating  form,  lightest  at  the  circumference  and 
gradally  increasing  in  density  toward  the  centre,  at  which 
point  the  greatest  density  is  attained.  This  was  the  nucleus 
from  which  suns  were  gradually  evolved,  around  which  by 
the  combined  processes  of  rotation  and  further  condensation, 
successive  and  concentric  rings  were  formed  on  the  outer 
1  Christian  Observer. 


ASTRONOMY.  91 

limits  of  the  nebulous  disks,  of  which,  it  is  supposed,  we 
have  a  faint  illustration  in  the  rings  of  Saturn.  These 
rings,  according  to  the  theory,  subsequently  became  broken 
up  and  detached,  when  the  matter  composing  them  natural- 
ly agglomerated  into  spheres,  which  by  an  analogous  pro- 
cess of  condensation  and  evolution  of  rings,  produced 
planets  and  their  satellites. 

Such  is  the  celebrated  Nebular  Hypothesis,  which  has 
enjoyed  a  great  popularity,  and,  for  a  time,  threw  the  Mo- 
saic Cosmogony  into  the  shade.  Infidel  philosophy  seemed 
to  have  achieved  the  triumph  of  showing  how  the  universe 
could  be  formed  without  a  God.  Physical  law  was  alleged 
to  have  unfolded  that  wondrous  magnificence  and  beauty 
which  we  behold  in  the  Heavens  and  in  the  earth,  instead 
of  Him  who  liveth  forever. 

With  the  advancement  of  discovery,  however,  this  bril- 
liant theory  has  been  losing  ground.  The  searching  ken 
of  Sir  John  Herschel's  powerful  telescope  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  disclosed  the  fact  that  some  of  the  nebulae  were 
resolvable.  Faint  patches  of  light  as  seen  through  feebler 
instruments,  now  assumed  a  grandeur  beyond  the  dreams 
of  science.  The  giant  telescopic  eye  framed  by  Lord  Rosse 
has  made  discoveries  even  more  remarkable.  The  nebulous 
light  in  the  northern  region  of  the  milky  way  was  at  once 
resolved  into  "  distinct  stars  and  star  dust,"  and  the  white 
fleecy  cloud  of  Orion  which  had  hitherto  baffled  all  attempts 
to  disclose  its  texture,  was  shown  to  be  "  a  gorgeous  bed 
of  stars."  And  many  other  dim,  faint,  misty  spots  put  off 
their  nebulous  features,  and  assumed  the  glories  of  sidereal 
bodies.  Thus  has  the  idea  been  gradually  matured  in  the 
scientific  mind,  that  all  those  hieroglyphics  in  the  sky  be- 
token inconceivably  distant  and  "countless  myriads  of  firma- 
mental  star-clusters,  which  are  themselves,  severally,  what 
the  cluster  is  that  is  seen  by  the  naked  eye  to  spangle  the 
surrounding  heavens  at  night;  that  there  are  families  of 


92  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

firmairients,  as  there  are  groups  and  associated  clusters  of 
stars  or  suns."  This  magnificent  conception  cannot  be 
numbered  among  the  fixed  results  of  science,  and  is  not, 
therefore,  to  be  urged  as  a  direct  argument  in  disproof  of 
the  Nebular  Hypothesis.  But  from  what  has  already  been 
discovered,  it  is  now  conceded,  that  could  another  instru- 
ment of  considerably  greater  power  than  that  of  Lord 
Rosse,  be  constructed,  that  ingenious  theory  already  so 
much  damaged,  might  be  completely  destroyed.  "As 
advanced  £y  Laplace,"  says  Professor  Whewell,  "  it  was  a 
mere  conjecture.  It  is  a  mere  conjecture  still.  Hitherto 
it  has  lost  ground  in  the  progress  of  Astronomical  research- 
es." And  says  Dr.  Lardner,  "Such  an  hypothesis"  (as 
that  of  diffuse  luminous  matter)  "  is  not  needed  to  explain 
appearances  which  are  so  much  more  obviously  and  simply 
explicable  by  the  admission  of  a  gradation  of  distances." 

But  even  if,  for  argument's  sake,  we  grant  the  hypothe- 
sis to  be  correct,  that  out  of  a  "  diffused  luminosity  "  were 
gradually  evolved  suns  and  planets,  it  does  not  prove,  or 
even  necessarily  suppose  that  anything  has  been  done  with- 
out the  intervention  of  intelligence  and  design.  Its  only 
effect  is  to  transfer  our  view  of  the  skill  exercised  and  the 
means  employed  to  another  part  of  the  work.  It  is  related 
of  Epicurus  that  when,  as  a  boy,  he  was  reading  with  his 
preceptor  the  verses  of  Hesiod,  which  tell  us  that — 

"  Eldest  of  beings,  Chaos  first  arose, 
Thence  earth-wide  stretched  the  steadfast  seat  of  all 
The  immortals—" 

the  young  scholar  first  betrayed  his  inquisitive  genius  by 
putting  the  inquiry,  "  And  Chaos  whence  ?  "  And  thus  is 
it  in  the  case  before  us.  The  attempt  to  erect  a  physical 
system  which  shall  explain  how  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  universe  were  gradually  producedj  only  places  the 
necessity  of  divine  interposition  and  creative  agency  farther 


A.STKONOMY.  93 

back*  Unless  that  be  granted,  innumerable  questions  and 
difficulties  will  still  arise,  for  which  an  answer  will  be  sought 
in  vain.  "  Why,"  it  may  be  asked,  "  must  the  primeval 
condition  be  one  of  change  at  all  ?  Why  should  not  the 
nebulous  matter  be  equally  diffused  through  space,  and 
continue  forever  in  its  state  of  equable  diffusion,  as  it  must 
do,  from  the  absence  of  all  cause  to  determine  the  time  and 
manner  of  its  separation  ?  Why  should  this  nebulous  mat- 
ter grow  cooler  and  cooler?  Why  should  it  not  retain 
forever  the  same  degree  of  heat,  whatever  heat  be  ?  If 
heat  be  a  fluid — if  to  cool  be  to  part  with  this  fluid,  as 
many  philosophers  suppose — what  becomes  of  the  fluid  heat 
of  the  nebulous  matter,  as  the  matter  cools  down  ?  Into 
what  unoccupied  region  does  it  find  its  way  ?  "  These  and 
numerous  similar  questions  can  only  be  met  by  admitting 
that  the  nebulous  mass  diffused  throughout  space,  supposing 
such  to  have  existed,  came  not  there  without  the  fiat  of  the 
Almighty ;  and  suns  and  planets  were  not  formed  out  of 
that  mass  without  the  intervention  of  infinite  wisdom. 
"  Let  it  be  supposed,"  says  Professor  Whewell,  "  that  the 
point  to  which  the  hypothesis  leads  us  is  the  ultimate  point 
of  physical  science ;  that  the  farthest  glimpse  we  can  obtain 
of  the  material  universe  by  our  natural  faculties,  shows  it 
to  us  as  occupied  by  a  boundless  abyss  of  luminous  matter ; 
still  we  ask  how  space  came  to  be  thus  occupied,  how  mat- 
ter came  to  be  thus  luminous  ?  If  we  establish  by  physi- 
cal proofs,  that  the  first  fact  which  can  be  traced  in  the 
history  of  the  world  is  that  l  there  was  light ; '  we  shall 
still  be  led  even  by  natural  reason,  to  suppose  that  before 
this  could  occur,  c  God  said,  Let  there  be  light.' " 

But  whatever  method  the  Divine  Architect  may  have 
chosen  whereby  to  frame  and  build  up  this  magnificent 
universe,  and  make  it  a  temple  to  his  praise,  the  wonderful 
provision  He  has  made  for  its  stability  and  permanence, 
which  it  has  been  one  of  the  most  brilliant  triumphs  of 


94r  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE   BIBLE. 

modern  science  to  unfold  and  demonstrate,  bears  so  unmis- 
takably the  impress  of  his  infinite  wisdom,  that  none  but 
those  who  are  incapable  of  reasoning  from  effect  to  cause, 
or  by  some  anomaly  in  the  laws  of  intellect,  are  insensible 
to  the  clearest  evidence,  can  resist  the  conviction,  that  here 
is  the  finger  of  God ! ' 

Since  the  laws  which  govern  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  have  been  understood,  certain  irregulari- 
ties and  disturbances  have  been  perceived  in  the  planetary 
orbits,  arising  from  the  mutual  attraction  of  the  different 
planets  upon  each  other,  which  suggest  the  arrival  of  an 
epoch  in  the  course  of  revolving  ages,  when  the  effects  of 
these  irregularities,  now  minute,  shall  have  accumulated 
suificiently  to  derange  the  whole  order  of  nature  and  reduce 
our  system,  now  harmonious,  to  chaos  and  confusion. 
Actual  observation,  moreover,  of  the  state  of  the  Heavens 
at  different  periods,  has  established  the  fact,  that  hi  conse- 

1  The  validity  of  the  argument  that  the  evidence  of  design  demonstrates 
the  existence  of  God,  has,  indeed,  been  called  in  question  by  the  recklessness 
of  modern  scepticism.  It  is,  says  the  infidel,  the  "  petitio  principii  of  dialec- 
tics," and  he  denies  that  there  is  any  such  evidence.  To  this  it  may  be  re- 
plied that  the  greatest  intellects  whom  the  world  has  known  have  acquiesced 
in  it  as  an  axiom  or  self-evident  proposition,  which  requires  no  demonstra- 
tion. The  noble  passage  which  Baron  Humboldt  has  quoted  in  his  Cosmos 
from  Aristotle  (a  passage  from  a  lost  work,  preserved  by  Cicero),  expresses, 
in  a  heathen  form,  the  inextinguishable  conviction  of  every  intelligent  mind, 
in  which  "  the  light"  has  not  become  "  darkness."  It  runs  thus :  "If  there 
were  beings  who  lived  in  the  depths  of  the  earth,  in  dwellings  adorned  with 
Statues  and  paintings,  and  everything  which  is  possessed  in  rich  abundance 
by  those  whom  men  esteem  fortunate ;  and  if  these  beings  could  receive  tid- 
ings of  the  might  and  majesty  of  the  gods,  and  could  then  emerge  from  their 
hidden  dwellings  through  the  open  fissures  of  the  earth  to  the  places  which 
we  inhabit ;  if  they  could  suddenly  behold  the  earth,  and  the  sea  and  the 
vault  of  heaven ;  could  recognize  the  expanse  of  the  cloudy  firmament,  and 
the  might  of  the  winds  of  heaven,  and  admire  the  sun  in  its  majesty,  beauty, 
and  radiant  effulgence ;  and  lastly,  when  night  veiled  the  earth  in  darkness, 
they  could  behold  the  starry  heavens,  the  changing  moon,  and  the  stars  ris- 
ing and  setting  in  the  unvarying  course  ordained  from  eternity,  they  would 
surely  exclaim,  There  are  gods,  and  such  great  things  must  be  the  work  of 
their  hands.'  "—Cosmos,  Amer.  ed.,  vol.  ii,  p.  29. 


. 


ASTRONOMY.  95 

quence  of  these  perturbations  great  changes  in  the  relative 
position  of  the  heavenly  bodies  have  taken  place,  rendering 
the  conclusion  irresistible,  that  we  are  apparently  gradually 
approaching  such  a  catastrophe. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  a  question  of  deep  interest, 
whether,  in  the  mechanism  of  the  universe,  this  contingency 
has  been  provided  for  and  any  adjustment  prepared  where- 
by to  avert  its  consequences.  This  is  a  problem  which 
could  not  be  solved  when  the  difficulty  was  first  perceived. 
Its  decision  required  such  progress  in  the  invention  and  im- 
provement of  mathematical  methods,  as  occupied  the  best 
mathematicians  of  Europe  the  greater  part  of  the  last 
century.  Even  Sir  Isaac  Newton  could  devise  no  other 
solution  than  the  special  interference  of  the  Almighty  to 
arrest  the  ruin  of  his  work.  The  combined  researches  of. 
Lagrange,  Laplace  and  others  have,  however,  by  means  of 
a  refined  analysis,  demonstrated  the  wondrous  fact  that  the 
solar  system  itself  contains  an  element  of  self-conservation — 
that  this  contingency  has  been  provided  for,  and  that  at 
the  very  moment  when  these  perturbations  shall  have 
reached  (heir  maximum,  and  the  crash  of  worlds  appear 
inevitable,  a  series  of  compensations  will  commence  which 
will  precisely  bring  back  the  system  to  the  state  in  which 
it  existed  before.  Like  the  oscillations  of  a  pendulum, 
"  each  orbit  undergoes  deviations  on  this  side,  and  on  that 
of  its  average  state  ;  but  these  deviations  are  never  very 
great,  and  it  finally  recovers  from  them,  so  that  the  average 
is  preserved.  The  planets  produce  perpetual  perturbations 
in  each  other's  motions,  but  these  perturbations  are  not  in- 
finitely progressive,  they  are  periodical ;  they  reach  a  maxi- 
mum and  then  diminish.  The  periods  which  this  restora- 
tion requires  are  for  the  most  part  enormous  ;  not  less  than 
thousands,  and  in  some  instances  millions  of  years ;  and 
hence  it  is  that  some  of  these  apparent  derangements  have 
been  going  on  in  the  same  direction  since  the  beginning  of 


96  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

the  history  of  the  world.  But  the  restoration  is  in  the  sequel 
as  complete  as  the  derangement ;  and  hi  the  mean  time  the 
disturbance  never  attains  a  sufficient  amount  seriously  to 
alter  the  adaptations  of  the  system." 

"  Thus,"  says  Professor  Mitchell,  "  do  we  find  that  God 
has  built  the  heavens  in  wisdom,  to  declare  his  glory,  and 
to  show  forth  his  handy-work.  There  are  no  iron  tracks 
with  bars  and  bolts,  to  hold  the  planets  in  their  orbits. 
Freely  in  space  they  move,  ever  changing  but  never 
changed ;  poised  and  balancing,  swaying  and  swayed,  dis- 
turbing and  disturbed,  onward  they  fly,  fulfilling  with 
unerring  certainty  their  mighty  cycles.  The  entire  system 
forms  one  grand,  complicated  piece  of  celestial  machinery ; 
circle  within  circle,  wheel  within  wheel,  cycle  within  cycle ; 
revolutions  so  swift,  as  to  be  completed  in  a  few  hours ; 
movements  so  slow,  that  their  mighty  periods  are  only  to 
be  counted  by  millions  of  years.  Are  we  to  believe  that 
the  Divine  Architect  constructed  this  admirably  adjusted 
system  to  wear  out,  and  to  fall  into  ruin,  even  before  one 
single  revolution  of  its  complex  scheme  of  wheels  have  been 
performed  ?  "No  I  I  see  the  mighty  orbits  of  the  planets 
rocking  to  and  fro,  their  figure  expanding  and  contracting, 
their  axes  revolving  in  their  vast  periods  ;  but  stability  is 
there.  Every  change  shall  wear  away,  and  after  sweeping 
through  the  grand  cycle  of  cycles,  the  whole  system  shall 
return  to  the  primitive  condition  of  perfection  and  beauty." 

And  can  this  exquisitely  contrived  plan  of  compensation 
and  adjustment  be  the  effect  of  chance,  or  produced  by  a 
process  of  natural  laws  working  in  them  and  by  them  ? 
Surely,  the  contemplation  of  so  amazing  a  contrivance  must 
compel  us  to  declare  with  Newton,  that  "  this  beautiful 
system  could  have  its  origin  no  other  way  than  by  the 
purpose  and  command  of  an  intelligent  and  powerful  Being, 
who  governs  all  things,  not  as  the  soul  of  the  world,  but  as 
the  Lord  of  the  universe  ;  who  is  not  only  God,  but  Lord 


ASTRONOMY.  97 

and  Governor ; "  or,  in  the  still  more  expressive  language  of 
the  inspired  Hebrew  historian :  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

There  is  another  admirable  arrangement,  equally  sugges- 
tive of  divine  wisdom,  whether  we  adopt  or  reject  the 
hypothesis  of  Laplace.  In  the  annual  motion  of  the  earth 
round  the  sun,  its  axis  is  inclined  from  the  perpendicular 
to  its  orbit  at  an  angle  of  twenty-three  degrees,  and  re- 
mains constantly  parallel  to  this  direction.  By  this  arrange- 
ment the  changes  of  temperature  on  the  earth's  surface, 
and  of  the  seasons  are  produced.  Had  the  axis  of  the  earth, 
instead  of  being  so  inclined,  been  perpendicular  to  the  plane 
of  its  orbit,  as  is  the  case  in  Jupiter,  the  sun  would  always 
have  been  vertical  to  the  same  line  of  places,  the  equatorial 
regions  would  have  been  parched  by  the  heat,  while  the 
regions,  called  temperate  in  the  present  arrangement,  would 
have  been  consigned  to  utter  desolation.  By  the  existing 
disposition,  the  various  parts  of  the  earth  are  brought  more 
fully  under  the  solar  influence,  and  we  have  all  the  delight- 
ful and  beneficent  effects  which  flow  from  the  variety  of 
climates. 

"  Again,  the  earth  is  nearer  the  sun  at  one  season  than 
at  another,  and  without  some  counteracting  influence  there 
would  be  an  inconvenient  increase  both  of  the  cold  of 
winter  and  the  heat  of  summer  in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
and  the  climate  of  the  two  hemispheres  would  be  rendered 
altogether  unlike  each  other.  But  any  injury  which  might 
arise  from  this  cause  is  made  to  disappear,  chiefly  by  means 
of  the  circumstance  that  the  point  of  the  earth's  orbit  which 
is  nearest  the  sun  is  that  over  which  it  moves  with  the 
greatest  speed.  It  is  ascertained  that  the  quantity  of  heat 
which  is  conveyed  by  the  sun  to  the  earth,  is  the  same 
during  the  passage  from  the  vernal  to  the  autumnal  equi- 
nox, as  in  returning  from  the  latter  to  the  former.  The 
much  longer  time  which  the  sun  takes  in  the  first  part  of 
5 


98  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

his  course  is  exactly  compensated  by  its  proportionally 
greater  distance,  and  the  quantities  of  heat  which  is  con- 
veyed to  the  earth  are  the  same,  whether  in  the  one  hem- 
isphere or  the  other,  north  or  south."  * 

Surely,  the  denial  of  divine  wisdom  in  such  exquisite 
adjustment,  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  wilful  blindness. 
That  mind  must  be  closed  to  conviction  which  does  not 
respond  to  the  declaration  of  the  apostle,  that  "  the  invisi- 
ble things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly 
seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  which  are  made,  even 
his  eternal  power  and  Godhead." 

But  with  all  the  evidences  of  design  that  are  manifested 
in  the  construction  of  the  material  system,  and  the  provis- 
ion which  Infinite  Wisdom  has  made  for  its  stability,  there 
are  not  wanting  indications  that  it  is  still  of  a  temporary 
nature,  and  that  a  period  is  destined  to  arrive  in  the  cycles 
of  the  universe,  when  it  shall  come  to  an  end. 

Among  the  agencies  which  may  be  considered  as  point- 
ing to  such  a  result,  is  the  resisting  medium  whose  exist- 
ence throughout  the  boundless  space  traversed  by  the 
heavenly  bodies,  is  now  generally  recognized  among  as- 
tronomers as  the  cause  of  the  long  observed  acceleration 
in  the  motions  of  the  comet  of  Encke.  The  excessive 
tenuity  of  such  bodies  fitting  them  to  be  readily  affected 
by  its  action,  evidently,  can  afford  us  no  clue  as  to  the 
period  which  must  elapse,  ere  its  effects  could  derange  the 
mechanism  of  the  solar  system.  Still,  granting  the  exist- 
ence of  a  resisting  medium,  it  necessarily  follows  that  there 
must  be  such  a  period.  "  It  may  be  millions  of  millions  of 
years,"  says  Professor  Whewell,  "  before  the  earth's  retar- 
dation may  perceptibly  affect  the  apparent  motion  of  the 
sun ;  but  still  the  day  will  come  (if  the  same  Providence 
which  formed  the  system,  should  permit  it  to  continue  so 
long),  when  this  cause  will  entirely  change  the  length  of 
1  McCosh  on  Typical  Forms  and  Special  Ends  in  Creation. 


ASTBOXOMY.  99 

the  year,  and  the  course  of  our  seasons,  and  finally  stop  the 
earth's  motion  round  the  sun  altogether.  The  smallness 
of  the  resistance,  however  small  we  choose  to  suppose  it, 
does  not  allow  us  to  escape  the  certainty.  There  is  a 
resisting  medium ;  and,  therefore,  the  movements  of  the 
solar  system  cannot  go  on  forever.  The  moment  such  a 
fluid  is  known  to  exist,  the  eternity  of  the  movements  of 
the  planets  becomes  as  impossible  as  a  perpetual  motion  on 
the  earth." 

Not  in  the  least,  however,  does  this  oppose  or  weaken 
the  evidence  of  a  Supreme,  Creative  Intelligence  exhibited 
by  the  arrangements  of  the  universe.  For  does  it  not 
furnish  an  unanswerable  proof  that  the  present  order  of 
things  which  must  have  an  end,  must  also  have  had  a  be- 
ginning ?  "  There  must  have  been  a  period  in  which  the 
impulse  now  proceeding  originated.  A  period  of  com- 
mencement implies  a  cause ;  the  order  and  regularity  of 
the  system  imply  an  Intelligent  Cause  ;  and  thus  the  idea 
of  Creator  is  forced  upon  us ;  and  instead  of  an  eternal 
operation  of  mechanical  powers,  and  an  eternal  succession 
of  organized  existences,  which  is  the  dream  of  the  atheist, 
we  see  a  system,  glorious  with  the  impress  of  a  Divine  hand, 
and  rejoicing  in  the  smile  of  a  present  Deity." 

For  the  permanence  of  that  system  during  the  period 
which  Almighty  Wisdom  intended  it  should  occupy,  as  we 
have  seen,  an  exquisite  arrangement  has  been  made.  So 
long  as  the  heavenly  bodies  continue  to  revolve,  this  pro- 
vision will  rectify  the  irregularities  of  their  orbits  and 
counteract  the  tendencies  to  derangement  ;  nor  will  this 
result  be  affected  by  the  action  of  the  resisting  medium, 
the  action  of  which  does  not  tend  to  increase  or  diminish 
the  eccentricities  of  the  celestial  motions.  Still  its  ultimate 
effect  must  be  to  arrest  those  motions  and  bring  this  mighty 
universe  to  an  end.  And  in  addition  to  this  cause,  "  the 
constant  radiation  of  heat  from  the  sun  into  space,  and  the 


100  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

absorption  of  vital  power  by  the  mutual  action  of  the  moon 
and  the  tide  wave,  together  with  the  fragments  of  broken 
planets,  the  descent  of  meteoric  stones  upon  our  globe,  the 
wheeling  comets  welding  their  loose  materials  at  the  solar 
surface,  the  volcanic  eruptions  of  our  own  satellite,  the 
appearance  of  new  stars  and  the  disappearance  of  others," 
all  seem  to  foreshadow  the  approaching  termination  of  our 
present  system. 

And  is  no.t  this  catastrophe  in  harmony  with  what  ap- 
pears to  be  creation's  universal  law  ?  Absolute  permanence 
is  written  nowhere  on  the  face  of  nature.  The  oak  of  the 
forest  wears  for  centuries  its  leafy  honors  and  then  decays ; 
the  stupendous  mountains  crumble  and  wear  away ;  "  where 
the  long  street  roars,  hath  been  "  (so  Geology  teaches  us), 
"  the  stillness  of  the  central  sea ; "  and  it  now  appears  that 
the  law  of  change  reaches  even  to  the  firmament,  and  the 
unwearied  circuits  of  the  planets  have  an  end. 

"  What  does  not  fade  ?    The  tower  that  long  had  stood 
The  crush  of  thunder,  and  the  warring  winds, 
Shook  by  the  slow  but  sure  destroyer  Time, 
Now  hangs  in  doubtful  ruins  o'er  its  base ; 
And  flinty  pyramids  and  walls  of  brass 
Descend  ;  the  Babylonian  spires  are  sunk ; 
Achaia,  Rome,  and  Egypt  moulder  down. 
Time  shakes  the  stable  tyranny  of  thrones ; 
And  tottering  empires  rush  by  their  own  weight. 
This  huge  rotundity  we  tread  grows  old, 
And  all  those  worlds  that  roll  around  the  sun. 
The  sun  himself  shall  die,  and  ancient  night 
Again  involve  the  desolate  abyss." — AKENSIDE. 

"But  after  all,"  says  Professor  Nichol,  "why  should 
such  an  anticipation  be  painful  ?  The  fact  of  change  merely 
intimates  that,  in  the  exhaustless  womb  of  the  Future,  un- 
evolved  wonders  are  in  store.  The  phenomena  referred  to 
would  simply  point  to  the  close  of  one  mighty  cycle  in  the 
history  of  the  solar  orb — the  passing  away  of  arrangements 


ASTRONOMY.  101 

which  have  fulfilled  their  objects,  that  they  might  be 
changed  into  new.  Thus  is  the  periodic  death  of  a  planet, 
perhaps,  the  essential  of  its  prolonged  life ;  and  when  the 
individual  dies  and  disappears,  fresh  and  vigorous  forms 
spring  from  the  elements  which  composed  it.  Mark  the 
chrysalis !  It  is  the  grave  of  the  worm,  but  the  cradle  of 
the  sun-born  insect.  The  broken  bowl  will  yet  be  healed 
and  beautified  by  the  potter,  and  a  voice  of  joyful  note  will 
awaken  one  day  even  the  silence  of  the  urn." 

"  Nay,  what  though  all  should  pass  ?  What,  though  the 
close  of  this  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  solar  orb  should  be 
accompanied,  as  some  by  a  strange  fondness  have  imagin- 
ed, by  the  dissolution  and  disappearing  of  all  these  shining 
spheres  ?  Then  would  our  universe  not  have  failed  in  its 
functions,  but  only  have  been  gathered  up  and  rolled  away, 
these  functions  being  complete.  That  gorgeous  material 
framework,  wherewith  the  Eternal  hath  adorned  and  varied 
the  abysses  of  space,  is  only  an  instrument  by  which  the 
myriads  of  spirits  borne  upon  its  orbs  may  be  told  of  their 
origin,  and  educated  for  more  exalted  being ;  and  the  time 
may  come  when  the  veil  can  be  drawn  aside — when  spirit 
shall  converse  directly  with  spirit,  and  the  creature  gaze 
without  hindrance  on  the  effulgent  face  of  the  Creator." 

The  final  catastrophe  of  the  present  system  of  things 
(using  a  limited  acceptation  of  that  phrase)  to  which  Science 
points,  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  while  the  anticipations  of  what  is  to  follow,  so  glow- 
ingly expressed  in  the  brilliant  words  of  Professor  Xichol, 
are  but  the  echo  of  the  far  sublimer  descriptions  of  the 
future  inheritance  prepared  for  the  righteous,  to  be  found 
in  the  inspired  Word.  Long  ago  had  the  royal  bard  of 
Judah  sung :  "  The  Heavens  are  the  work  of  thy  hands. 
They  shall  perish,  but  Thou  shalt  endure  ;  yea,  all  of  them 
shall  wax  old  like  a  garment,  as  a  vesture  shalt  Thou 
change  them  and  they  shall  be  changed."  And  long  ago 


102  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO    THE   BIBLE. 

from  the  rocky  shores  of  Patmos,  the  beloved  apostle  had 
seen,  in  prophetic  vision,  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth  which  are  to  succeed  the  dissolution  and  passing 
away  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  that  now  are.  By  that 
awful  and  tremendous  catastrophe,  though  it  is  to  be  ac- 
complished by  the  agency  of  fire,  whose  materials,  as 
Science  tells  us,  are  laid  up  in  the  composition  of  the 
atmosphere,  of  the  waters,  and  of  the  earth  itself,  we  are 
not  authorized  to  suppose  that  the  glorious  works  of  God 
shall  literally  be  destroyed.  But,  as  the  records  of  the 
rocks  reveal  that  our  planet  has  already  undergone  mighty 
transformations,  so  shall  it  be  at  the  predicted  period  of 
"the  restitution  of  all  things."  And  when  the  fires  of 
purification  shall  have  swept  over  its  surface,  and  the  me- 
morials of  man's  art  and  man's  iniquity  have  alike  been 
destroyed  in  the  avenging  flame,  the  earth  shall  emerge 
from  the  conflagration,  not  consumed,  but  emancipated 
from  the  thraldom  of  the  curse,  and,  as  we  cannot  doubt, 
arrayed  in  a  garb  of  loveliness,  far  more  glorious  than  it 
wore,  even '  in  that  hour  when  God  first  pronounced  His 
work  to  be  "  good,"  and  "  the  morning  stars  sang  together 
and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  This  is  a  result 
which  the  statements  of  Holy  Scripture  lead  us  to  antici- 
pate, and  which  the  discoveries  of  Science,  as  to  past 
changes  of  the  earth,  confirm.  It  does  not  follow,  how- 
ever, from  this,  that  the  renovated  earth  is  to  be  the  exclu- 
sive seat  or  boundary  of  the  future  heaven  of  the  righteous; 
though  it  is  far  from  improbable,  that,  associated  as  it  is 
and  ever  must  be,  with  such  imperishable  recollections,  it 
may  be  one  among  the  "  many  mansions,"  which  they  shall 
be  permitted  from  time  to  time  to  visit  and  occupy. 
Neither  the  Bible  nor  Science  indicates  to  us  the  locality 
of  the  special  home  of  the  sanctified  family  of  God,  the 
"  place  "  which  the  Redeemer  went  "  to  prepare  ;  "  but 
through  the  discoveries  of  the  marvellous  grandeur  of  the 


ASTRONOMY.  103 

universe  opened  up  by  Modern  Astronomy,  faith  may  be 
assisted  to  descry,  what  now  the  material  eye  cannot  see, 
the  spires  and  turrets  of  that  celestial  city,  in  which  "  there 
shall  be  no  night,  and  they  need  no  candle  nor  light  of  the 
sun."  They  can  give  us  no  positive  information  whatever, 
yet  the  views  of  the  inexhaustible  resources  of  the  Creator 
which  those  discoveries  suggest,  are  in  harmony  with  the 
scattered  intimations  of  Scripture  on  this  deeply  interesting 
subject.  These  are  necessarily  indefinite,  yet  their  careful 
consideration  will,  perhaps,  lead  us  to  adopt  the  conclusion, 
thus  eloquently  expressed  by  Bishop  Pearson :  "  This  first 
aerial  heaven,  where  God  setteth  up  his  pavilion,  where 
'  he  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot,  and  walketh  upon  the 
wings  of  the  wind,'  is  not  so  far  inferior  in  place  as  it  is 
in  glory  to  the  next,  the  seat  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the  two 
great  lights,  and  stars  innumerable,  far  greater  than  the 
one  of  them.  And  yet  that  second  heaven  is  not  so  far 
above  the  first  as  beneath  the  third  into  which  St.  Paul  was 
caught.  The  brightness  of  the  sun  doth  not  so  far  surpass 
the  blackness  of  a  wandering  cloud,  as  the  glory  of  that 
heaven  of  presence  surmounts  the  fading  beauty  of  the 
starry  firmament.  For  in  this  great  temple  of  the  world, 
in  which  the  Son  of  God  is  the  High  Priest,  the  heaven 
which  we  see  is  but  the  veil,  and  that  which  is  above,  the 
holy  of  holies.  This  veil  indeed  is  lich  and  glorious,  but 
one  day  to  be  rent,  and  then  to  admit  us  into  a  far  greater 
glory,  even  to  the  mercy  seat  and  cherubim.  For  this  third 
heaven  is  the  proper  habitation  of  the  blessed  angels,  who 
constantly  attend  upon  the  throne." 

One  of  the  grandest  achievements  of  modern  science  has 
been  the  discovery  of  the  new  planet  Neptune,  in  October, 
1846 — a  discovery  not  by  accident,  but  to  which  the  ob- 
servers were  led  by  scientific  theory  and  deduction  alone. 
Some  time  previous  to  the  verification  of  Leverrier's  anal- 
ysis, Sir  John  Herschel  predicted  with  undoubting  confi- 


104  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

dence  the  great  astronomical  triumph  in  the  following 
beautiful  language  addressed  to  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Association :  "  Among  the  remarkable  events  of  the  last 
twelvemonth,  it  has  added  a  new  planet  to  our  list.1  It 
has  done  more — it  has  given  us  the  probable  prospect  of 
the  discovery  of  another.  We  see  it,  as  Columbus  saw 
America  from  the  shores  of  Spain.  Its  movements  have 
been  felt,  trembling  along  the  far  reaching  line  of  our  anal- 
ysis, with  a  certainty  hardly  inferior  to  ocular  demonstra- 
tion." This  anticipation  has  been  realized,  and  by  the  aid 
of  the  telescope,  the  eye  of  the  astronomer  has  actually 
descried  a  new  and  mighty  planet  of  our  system,  so  remote 
in  the  depths  of  space  as  to  include  within  its  orbit  the 
farthest  range  of  the  comet  of  Halley,  which  requires 
seventy-five  years  for  its  period  of  revolution.  The  faith 
which  is  "  the  evidence  of  things  unseen,"  can,  however, 
far  surpass  this  wondrous  achievement  and  realize  to  the 
spiritual  vision  a  world  far  more  remote  and  inconceivably 
more  glorious.  True,  our  knowledge  of  its  existence  is 
derived  from  different  sources  than  was  the  persuasion  of 
the  Genoese  mariner,  who  saw  in  the  floating  trees  and 
plants  borne  by  the  gulf  stream  of  the  tropics  to  the  shores 
of  Europe,  tangible  evidence  of  the  western  continent.  Nor 
can  we  hope  to  verify  our  belief  by  our  material  vision, 
even  though  aided  by  "  the  philosophic  tube,  that  brings 
the  planets  home  into  the  eye  of  observation."  Yet  with 
an  assurance  more  firmly  grounded  than  that  of  the  great 
navigator,  or  the  astronomer,  we  may  know  and  believe, 
that  beyond  the  azure  canopy  above  us,  there  is  "  a  better 
— an  heavenly  country."  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  prog- 
ress of  astronomical  discovery  seems  now  to  be  tending 
toward  the  recognition  of  a  grand  centre  of  the  universe, 
around  which  suns  and  planets,  stars  and  constellations,  in 
one  mighty  system,  harmoniously  revolve.  Should  this 
1  Astrea,  discovered  by  Mr.  Drencke  of  Dreisen,  Dec.  8, 1845. 


ASTRONOMY.  105 

sublime  theory,  which,  indeed,  already  appears  to  rest  upon 
a  scientific  basis  far  above  mere  conjecture,1  be  certainly 
demonstrated,  perhaps,  it  were  not  absurd  to  imagine,  that 
there  in  its  great  and  awful  reality  might  be  the  Throne  of 
God,  and  that  there  might  be  the  spot  where  abides  the 
ascended  Redeemer  in  his  glorified  humanity,  the  centre 
of  unity  at  once  to  the  physical  and  moral  creation.  And 
although  the  most  costly  and  gigantic  telescope  of  science 
cannot  avail  to  give  us  the  faintest  glimpse  of  "  that  land 
very  far  off,  where  dwelleth  the  King  in  his  beauty ; " 
where  stands  his  throne  of  glory,  more  radiant  than  the 
sun,  and  his  shining  palace  brighter  than  the  light ;  and 
where  his  shining  peers  and  princely  subjects  are  ever  to 
live  with  him  and  behold  his  glory ;  yet  even  here  there 
are  "  detectable  mountains,"  known  to  Christian  experience, 
as  favored  pilgrims  have  assured  us,  whence  the  far  off  city 
of  God  with  its  gates  of  pearl  and  its  streets  of  gold  may 
almost  be  descried  through  the  mists  of  earth,  and  "  sweet 
echoes  of  unearthly  melodies  "  dimly  fall  upon  the  ear.  As 
he  approached  the  confines  of  the  eternal  world,  the  dying 
Payson  said:  "The  eternal  city  is  full  in  my  view.  Its 
glories  beam  upon  me,  its  breezes  fan  me,  its  odors  are 
wafted  to  me,  its  sounds  strike  upon  my  ears,  and  its  spirit 
is  breathed  into  my  heart."  A  view  so  strong  and  clear  as 

1  "  The  two  great  laws  of  gravitation  and  inertia,  by  which  our  own  sys- 
tem is  regulated  and  maintained,  have  been  proved  to  exist  with  precisely 
the  same  powers,  at  least  in  some  of  the  fixed  stars.  The  probability,  there- 
fore, is,  that  all  these  are  universal  qualities  inherent  in  all  material  objects. 
This  being  granted,  seems  to  imply  the  necessity  of  a  balanced  rotatory  mo- 
tion in  every  system  of  worlds,  for  preserving  the  general  equilibrium  of  the 
whole ;  because  the  universal  attraction  must  prevent  any  body  from  remain- 
ing stationary.  Now,  the  same  principle  appears  to  apply  to  groups  of  sys- 
tems which  applies  to  systems  themselves.  Hence  we  may  infer  a  complica- 
tion of  movements  of  the  most  wonderful  and  extensive  kind,  combining  not 
merely  worlds  with  worlds,  and  systems  with  systems,  but  nebula}  with 
nebula?,  embracing  the  whole  material  creation  and  extending  to  infinity." — 
Eclectic  Magazine. 

5* 


106  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

this,  few  can  hope  to  attain  from  these  mortal  shores.  Yet 
the  glass  of  Scripture  is  open  to  all,  and  from  the  "  glorious 
things  "  it  reveals  to  our  faith  of  the  "  city  of  God,"  every 
believer  may  form  and  cherish  an  ideal  of  the  future  home 
awaiting  -him  at  the  close  of  his  pilgrimage,  to  which  the 
Pagan  dreams  of  Elysian  fields,  Hesperian  gardens,  and 
Islands  of  the  Blest,  are  as  tapers  to  the  sun. 

"About  the  holy  city  rolls  a  flood 

Of  molten  chrystal,  like  a  sea  of  glass, 
On  which  weak  stream,  a  strong  foundation  stood ; 
Of  living  diamonds  the  building  was, 
That  all  things  else,  besides  itself,  did  pass  ; 

Her  streets,  instead  of  stones,  the  stars  did  pave, 
And  little  pearls,  for  dust,  it  seem'd  to  have, 
On  which  soft-streaming  manna,  like  pure  snow,  did  wave. 

"  In  midst  of  this  city  celestial, 

Where  the  Eternal  Temple  should  have  rose, 
Lightened  the  Idea  Beatifical — 

End  and  beginning  of  each  thing  that  grows  ; 

Whose  self  no  end  nor  yet  beginning  knows, 

That  hath  no  eyes  to  see,  nor  ears  to  hear, 

Yet  sees  and  hears,  and  is  all  eye,  all  ear ; 

That  nowhere  is  contained,  and  yet  is  every  where. 

"  A  heavenly  feast,  no  hunger  can  consume  ; 

A  light  unseen,  yet  shines  in  every  place  ; 
A  sound  no  time  can  steal ;  a  sweet  perfume 
No  winds  can  scatter ;  an  entire  embrace 
That  no  satiety  can  e'er  unlace : 
Ingraced  into  so  high  a  favor,  there 
The  saints,  with  their  beau  peers,  whole  worlds  outwear, 
And  things  unseen  do  see,  and  things  unheard  do  hear. 

"  No  sorrow  now  hangs  clouding  on  their  brow, 

No  bloodless  malady  empales  their  face, 
No  age  drops  on  their  hairs  his  silver  snow, 
No  poverty  themselves  and  theirs  disgrace, 
No  fear  of  death  the  joy  of  life  devours, 
No  loss,  no  grief,  no  change  wait  on  their  winged  hours." 

REV.  GILES  FLETCHER. 


CHAPTER   II. 

GEOLOGY. 

FEOM  that  sublime  science  which  traverses  the  fields  of 
immensity  and  presents  to  our  contemplation  the  glories  of 
the  firmament,  and  which  claims  an  antiquity  coeval  with 
the  infancy  of  society,  we  will  now  turn  to  another  hardly 
less  attractive,  but  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  which 
calls  our  attention  to  evidences  of  Creative  power,  wisdom, 
and  goodness,  hidden  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  earth. 
"In  the  magnitude  and  sublimity  of  the  objects  of  which 
it  treats,  Geology,"  says  Sir  John  Herschel,  "  undoubtedly 
ranks,  in  the  scale  of  the  sciences,  next  to  Astronomy." 
"  If  the  discoveries  of  Astronomy  are  vast,  the  discoveries 
of  Geology  are  no  less  vast :  they  extend  through  time,  as 
those  of  Astronomy  do  through  space.  They  carry  us 
through  millions  of  years,  that  is,  of  the  earth's  revolutions, 
as  those  of  Astronomy  do  through  millions  of  the  earth's 
diameters,  or  of  diameters  of  the  earth's  orbit.  Geology 
fills  the  regions  of  duration  with  events,  as  Astronomy  fills 
the  regions  of  the  universe  with  objects."  1  Let  us  interro- 
gate its  discoveries  respecting  their  harmony  with  revela- 
tion. 

Until  near  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  it 
was,  perhaps,  the  generally  received  opinion,  sanctioned,  it 
was  supposed,  by  Holy  Scripture,  that  the  earth,  if  not  the 
whole  universe,  dated  from  an  epoch  of  about  six  thousand 

i  Plurality  of  Worlds. 


108  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

years  ago,  and  that  previous  to  that  period,  the  matter  of 
which  it  is  composed,  was  not  in  existence,  much  less  was 
it  the  home  of  animal  or  vegetable  life.  It  was  supposed 
also,  that  previous  to  the  fall  of  man,  decay  and  death 
were  unknown  in  the  creation,  and  that  the  beasts  of  the 
field  were  partakers  of  our  immortality.  But  modern 
science  has  contradicted  these  suppositions ;  and  innumer- 
able wrecks  of  a  former  state  of  nature,  wonderfully  pre- 
served ("  like  ancient  medals  and  inscriptions  in  the  ruins 
of  an  empire  ")  have  been  brought  from  the  deepest  caverns 
of  the  earth  and  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains,  "from 
scarped  cliff  and  quarried  stone,"  to  prove  the  immeasur- 
able antiquity  of  our  globe,  and  that  death  was  a  law  among 
its  animal  tribes,  ages  before  man  had  made  his  appearance 
upon  its  surface. 

From  a  careful  study  of  some  fossil  organic  remains 
found  in  the  gypsum  quarries  near  Paris,  the  celebrated 
French  naturalist  Cuvier  was  the  first  to  establish  an  order 
of  facts  pointing  to  the  above  conclusion.  Since  his  time, 
the  various  strata  of  the  earth  and  their  embedded  con- 
tents, which  had  been  for  centuries  the  occasion  of  won- 
der and  perplexity,  have  been  laboriously  investigated  by 
the  ablest  scientific  minds,  and  with  great  and  surprising 
results.  And,  contrary  to  a  too  prevalent  notion  respect- 
ing the  science  of  geology,  those  results  cannot  be  impugned 
on  the  ground  that  the  principles  of  the  science  are  unset- 
tled and  constantly  changing.  If  there  were  cause  for  the 
imputation,  while  it  was  yet  in  a  state  of  immaturity,  the 
case  is  different  now.  Geology  is  still  a  youthful  science, 
but  is  no  longer  immature.  Its  principles  are  as  clearly 
ascertained  and  "  as  well  settled  as  the  theory  of  the  earth's 
diurnal  and  annual  motions  in  astronomy,  or  the  doctrine 
of  definite  proportions  in  chemistry." 

"  The  most  important  of  these  principles  are  the  follow- 
ing :  The  whole  accessible  crust  of  the  globe  has  undergone 


tflv 

GEOLOGY.  109 


entire,  and  oftentimes  repeated  metamorphoses,  since  the 
rocks  were  created ;  enormous  erosions  have  taken  place 
upon  the  earth  since  it  was  consolidated ;  existing  continents, 
by  slow  vertical  movements,  have  been  below  the  ocean 
several  times  ;  processes  are  now  going  on  around  us,  capa- 
ble of  producing  nearly  all  the  known  varieties  of  rock,  with 
the  aid  of  water  and  heat ;  water  and  heat  have  been  the 
grand  agents  of  all  geological  changes ;  the  whole  globe  has 
once  been  in  a  state  of  igneous  fusion ;  there  was  a  time 
when  no  animals  or  plants  existed  on  the  earth ;  several  dis- 
tinct economies  of  ttfe,  or  groups  of  animals  and  plants,  have 
occupied  the  surface,  each  adapted  to  the  altered  condition 
of  things ;  these  ancient  races  have  been  unlike  one  another, 
and,  with  a  few  exceptions  in  the  highest  formations,  unlike 
those  alive,  the  resemblance  between  the  living  and  the  fos- 
sil types  becoming  more  unlike  as  we  descend ;  some  ten  or 
twelve  miles  in  thickness  of  fossiliferous  rocks  were  deposit- 
ed previous  to  the  creation  of  man,  who  was  among  the  last 
of  the  animals  that  have  appeared  upon  the  globe ;  and 
finally,  amid  all  the  diversities  of  organic  structure,  and 
change  of  species,  genera,  and  families,  in  different  forma- 
tions, the  feature  of  one  grand  system  can  be  seen  running 
through  the  whole  series,  linking  all  past  minor  systems  to- 
gether, and  to  the  existing  races,  and  showing  the  one  grand 
plan  of  creation,  as  it  lay  originally  in  the  Divine  Mind."  l 

The  most  important  geological  fact  in  the  above  enumer- 
ation in  its  bearings  upon  Revelation,  is  the  existence  of 
organic  remains  embedded  in  the  rocks.  These  are  sub- 
divided into  several  strata,  and  each  of  the  strata  is  a  vast 
catacomb  in  which  lie  buried  innumerable  generations  of 
creatures  that  have  lived  and  died  during  the  period  of  its 
deposition.  "  The  quantity  of  fossil  remains  is  so  great,"  says 
Mrs.  Somerville,  "  that  probably  not  a  particle  of  matter 
exists  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  that  has  not  at  some  time 
1  Bibliothcca  Sacra. 


110  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

formed  part  of  a  living  creature.  Since  the  commencement 
of  animated  existence,  zoophytes  have  built  coral  reefs  ex- 
tending hundreds  of  miles,  and  mountains  of  limestone  are 
full  of  their  remains  all  over  the  globe.  Mines  of  shells  are 
worked  to  make  lime  ;  ranges  of  hill  and  rock,  many  hun- 
dred feet  thick,  are  almost  entirely  composed  of  them,  and 
they  abound  in  every  mountain  chain  throughout  the  earth. 
The  prodigious  quantity  of  microscopic  shells  discovered 
by  Ehrenberg,  is  still  more  astonishing ;  shells  not  larger 
than  a  grain  of  sand  form  entire  mountains ;  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  hills  of  Casciano,  in  Tuscany,  consists  of  cham- 
bered shells,  so  minute,  that  Saldani  collected  10,454  of 
them  from  one  ounce  of  stone.  Chalk  is  often  almost 
entirely  composed  of  shells  ;  the  polishing  portion  of  tripoli 
is  owing  to  their  silicious  coats ;  and  there  are  even  hills 
of  great  extent  consisting  ol  this  substance,  the  debris  of 
an  infinite  variety  of  microscopic  insects." l  For  such  vast 
accumulations,  the  geologist  claims  It  as  unquestionable 
that  incalculable  periods  of  time  must  have  been  required, 
compared  with  which  the  antiquity  of  man  upon  the  earth 
dwindles  to  an  insignificant  point. 

The  inductive  process  which  has  led  to  the  conclusions 
of  Geology  is  thus  forcibly  stated  by  Hugh  Miller :  "  All 
nature  is  a  vast  tablet,  inscribed  with  signs,  each  of  which 
has  its  own  significancy  ;  and  Geology  is  simply  the  key  by 
which  myriads  of  these  signs,  hitherto  undecypherable,  can 
be  unlocked  and  perused.  We  are  told  by  travellers,  that 
the  rocks  of  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  are  lettered  over  with 
strange  characters  inscribed  during  the  forty  years'  wander- 
ings of  Israel.  They  testify  in  their  very  existence,  of  a 
remote  past,  when  the  cloud-o'ershadowed  tabernacle  rose 
amid  the  tents  of  the  desert ;  and  who  shall  dare  say 
whether,  to  the  scholar  who  could  dive  into  their  hidden 
meanings,  they  might  not  be  found  charged  with  the  very 
i  Physical  Geography. 


GEOLOGY.  Ill 

song  sung  of  old  by  Moses  and  by  Miriam,  when  the  sea 
rolled  over  the  pride  of  Egypt  ?  To  the  geologist  every  rock 
bears  its  inscription  engraved  in  ancient  hieroglyphic  char- 
acters, that  tell  of  the  Creator's  journeyings  of  old,  of  the 
laws  which  He  gave,  the  tabernacles  which  He  reared,  and 
ithe  marvels  which  He  wrought, — of  the  mute  prophecies 
wrapped  up  in  type  and  symbols, — of  the  earth  gulfs  that 
opened  and  of  reptiles  that  flew, — of  fiery  plagues  that  de- 
vastated on  the  land,  and  of  hosts  more  numerous  than  that 
of  Pharoah,  that  '  sunk  like  lead  in  the  mighty  waters.' " 

It  must  be  granted  that  there  is  an  apparent  discrepancy 
between  the  teachings  of  Geology  and  the  statements  of 
the  Bible,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  apprehension  was 
excited  in  religious  minds  when  they  were  first  advanced. 
Cowper  no  doubt  expressed  the  general  sentiment  of  serious 
Christians  of  his  day,  when  he  wrote  : 

u  Some  drill  and  bore 
The  solid  earth,  and  from  the  strata  there 
Extract  a  register,  by  which  we  learn, 
That  He  who  made  it,  and  revealed  its  date 
To  Moses,  was  mistaken  in  its  age." 

Inspired  by  the  supposed  necessity  of  vindicating  the  truth 
of  Scripture,  numerous  attempts  have  been  made  to  over- 
throw the  interpretations  which  Geology  has  given  to  the 
records  found  in  the  stone  book  of  nature.  The  favorite 
counter-explanation  has  been  the  effect  produced  by  the 
deluge  of  Noah.  That  mighty  catastrophe,  anti-geologists 
have  maintained,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  all  the  deposits 
of  fossil  remains  in  the  rocks,  without  resorting  to  such 
incalculable  periods  of  time  as  necessary  to  their  produc- 
tion. This  hypothesis,  however,  is  readily  overthrown  by 
the  application  of  scientific  tests  and  the  ordinary  laws  of 
nature.  Unless  that  awful  event  is  to  be  viewed  as  in  every 
respect  removed  from  the  sphere  of  natural  law,  it  is  evi- 


112  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

dent  that  whatever  marks  of  physical  action,  if  any,  it  may 
have  left  upon  our  globe,  must  have  been  confined  to  its 
surface,  or  at  farthest  to  its  upper  strata.  No  ordinary 
laws  of  natural  agency  will  identify  its  eifects  with  those 
organic  remains  which  are  buried  more  than  a  thousand 
feet  deep  in  the  hardest  rocks,  and  which  in  many  instances 
are  covered  by  overlying  strata  of  a  flinty  hardness,  which 
no  passing  flood  of  waters  could  possibly  penetrate,  and 
particularly  a  flood  of  such  short  duration  as  that  of  Noah. 
Evidently  its  effects  must  have  been  mechanical,  not  chem- 
ical, but  in  a  very  small  degree.  It  might  disturb  the  rela- 
tive position  of  rocks  or  denude  their  surface,  but  it  could 
not  make  them.  It  might  deposit  a  bank  of  sand  or  gravel, 
but  we  can  not  conceive  of  its  power  being  sufficient  to  dis- 
solve or  disturb  or  affect  to  any  considerable  degree,  a  bed 
of  rock  thousands  of  miles  in  geographical  extent,  and 
thousands  of  yards  in  thickness.  Moreover,  if  in  the  face 
of  these  objections,  we  still  refer  the  fossil  remains  of  or- 
ganic life  in  the  various  primary  and  secondary  rocks  to 
such  a  cause,  how  can  we  account  for  their  orderly  and 
regular  distribution  ?  They  are  not  found  in  any  part  of 
the  earth  in  that  confused  and  disorderly  mass  to  which 
they  would  be  reduced  By  such  a  violent  mechanical  agita- 
tion. They  are  almost  as  scientifically  arranged,  according 
to  their  genera  and  species,  throughout  the  different  forma- 
tions, as  they  would  be  in  the  museum  of  a  naturalist — the 
most  ancient  and  the  extinct  species  in  the  lower,  the  re- 
cent and  existing  species  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  earth. 
Such  an  arrangement,  it  is  evident,  can  not  be  attributed  to 
a  disturbing  agency.  "  Rushing  waters  were  not  the  scene 
for  calm  deposits,  where  all  the  bones  and  spines  of  the 
most  deh'cate  structures,  and  the  forms  of  leaves  and  plants 
in  endless  variety,  could  be  laid  and  kept  unhurt.  A  del- 
uge, and  that,  too,  of  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  days' 
duration,  was  not  the  workshop  in  which  strata  ten  miles 


GEOLOGY.  113 

thick  could  be  formed  and  packed  with  their  teeming  pop- 
ulation ;  neither  had  it  time  to  do  the  work,  nor  had  it  room 
to  hold  the  materials."  1  Yet  to  this,  as  well  as  other  ab- 
surd conclusions,  we  are  driven,  if  we  maintain  that  all  the 
mighty  changes  which  the  records  of  the  rocks  reveal,  took 
place  in  the  short  period  which  the  Noachian  deluge  lasted. 
Another  class  of  writers  have  sought  to  remove  the 
difficulty,  by  arguing  that  since  it  is  possible  for  God  to  do 
all  things,  it  was  possible  for  Him  by  a  single  fiat  to  create 
all  those  skeleton  structures  that  have  been  supposed  to 
indicate  creatures  of 

"  Monstrous  shapes  that  one  time  walk'd  the  earth, 
Of  which  ours  is  the  wreck." 

According  to  this  theory,  the  myriads  of  sea  shells,  the 
impressions  and  fossil  specimens  of  plants,  and  skeletons  of 
the  higher  animals,  which  we  find  in  their  progressive  order 
of  super-position  in  the  rocks,  were  but  accompaniments 
of  the  creative  act,  mere  illusions  and  shadows,  "  deceptive 
simulacra,"  which  never  had  any  answering  realities  in  the 
vegetable  or  animal  world !  All  the  wonders  of  intelli- 
gence which  great  scientific  minds  have  recognized  in  the 
stratified  rocks  of  the  earth,  are  thus  held  to  reveal  (says 
the  eminent  Professor  Owen)  "  an  elaborate  d'esign  to  de- 
ceive and  not  to  instruct."  The  only  argument  which  is 
used  to  support  this  attempt  to  "  untie  the  Geological 
knot,"  must  indeed  be  conceded.  The  Divine  Power  is 
certainly  competent  to  such  a  creation.  But  infinite  wis- 
dom being  an  attribute  of  the  Deity  as  truly  as  his  omnip- 
otence, how  can  we  conceive  of  such  a  creation  as  forming 
a  part  of  his  glorious  plan  ?  Where  can  be  found  the 
intelligible  purpose  in  the  production  of  forms  which,  in 
ouch  a  case,  would  have  been  to  human  conceptions  so 
evidently  useless  ?  It  is  equally  undeniable  that  God  could 

1  Archdeacon  Pratt' s  "  Scripture  and  Science." 


114  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

have  created  Herculaneurn  and  Pompeii  under  their  vol- 
canic beds  of  lava  and  ashes,  and  the  Egyptian  mummies 
in  their  tombs  and  sarcophagi,  just  as  we  now  find  them  / 
but  reason  at  once  turns  from  the  supposition  as  to  the  last 
degree  improbable.  And  the  same  reason  compels  us  to 
place  a  theory  of  equal  if  not  greater  improbability,  resorted 
to  in  order  to  defend  the  authority  of  the  Bible  against  the 
supposed  hostility  of  Geological  discoveries,  on  a  par  with 
the  folly  of  the  Bramin,  who  dashed  the  microscope  in 
pieces  when  it  crossed  his  superstitious  practices  by  the 
wonders  it  revealed. 

Such  absurd  resorts  to  explain  undeniable  phenomena 
have  proved  as  unnecessary  as  the  alarm  occasioned  in  the 
Vatican  by  the  discoveries  of  Galileo.  They  have  only 
served  to  wound  religion  in  the  house  of  its  friends.  Here 
again,  the  discrepancy  is  only  apparent,  and  the  true  and 
consistent  exposition  of  the  inspired  record  of  Moses  has 
established  its  perfect  harmony  with  the  disclosures  of  geolo- 
gy. The  difficulty  in  effecting  their  reconcilement  has 
been  not  with  Scripture  itself,  but  with  misconceptions  of 
its  meaning.  "  It  should  be  recollected,"  says  Dr.  Buck- 
land  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  "  that  the  question  is  not 
respecting  1jie  Mosaic  narrative,  but  of  our  interpretation 
of  it ;  and  still  further,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
object  of  this  account  was,  not  to  state  in  what  manner, 
but  by  whom,  the  world  was  made.  As  the  prevailing  ten- 
dency of  men  in  those  early  days  was  to  worship  the  most 
glorious  objects  of  nature,  namely,  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars,  it  should  seem  to  have  been  one  important  point  in 
the  Mosaic  account  of  creation  to  guard  the  Israelites 
against  the  polytheism  and  idolatry  of  the  nations  around 
them,  by  announcing  that  all  these  magnificent  celestial 
bodies  were  no  gods,  but  the  works  of  the  Almighty 
Creator,  to  whom  alone  the  worship  of  mankind  is  due." 
Had  he  done  this  in  the  language  of  science,  it  is  obvious 


GEOLOGY.  115 

that  he  must  have  used  that  language  in  its  farthest  devel- 
opment, which  would  have  rendered  his  sublime  disclosures 
a  hopeless  enigma  to  all  but  a  comparative  few  of  our  race. 
It  not  being  his  object  to  teach  science,  he  has  entirely 
avoided  its  terms  and  phraseology,  yet  has  he  so  written  as 
to  stand  the  test  of  science.  His  simple  yet  lofty  and  ma- 
jestic narrative  is  so  worded  as  to  be  intelligible  to  all 
generations  of  men  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time, 
and  yet  the  utmost  scrutiny  of  modern  discovery  can  find 
in  it  nothing  to  impugn. 

But  as  in  the  instances  already  given  under  the  head  of 
Astronomy,  much  more  than  this  can  be  justly  claimed  for 
the  Mosaic  record  of  Creation.  Not  only  is  it  free  from 
scientific  error,  not  only  does  the  most  searching  investiga- 
tion fail  to  discover  any  discrepancy  or  contradiction  be- 
tween its  statements  and  the  discoveries  of  Geology ;  there 
are  also  to  be  found  remarkable  coincidences  between  the 
language  of  that  narrative  and  those  discoveries.  By  ac- 
curately following  the  very  words  of  Moses,  without  wrest- 
ing them  in  the  least  degree  beyond  their  plain  and  obvious 
import,  we  obtain,  as  it  respects  the  order  of  creation,  an 
exact  parallelism  with  the  language  which  geologists,  many 
of  them  sceptics,  indifferent  to  Moses  and  hostile  to  Reve- 
lation, have  laboriously  decyphered  from  the  rocks  and 
strata  of  the  earth.  They  have  found  the  fossil  remains  of 
animal  and  vegetable  life  deposited  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  globe  in  the  very  succession  in  which  the  lawgiver  of 
Israel  declared  them  to  have  been  created.  It  has  been 
said,  that  if  one  should  try  to  give  a  sketch  in  the  very 
fewest  words  of  the  Celestial  Mechanism  of  Laplace,  the 
Cosmos  of  Humboldt,  and  the  geology  of  the  latest  and 
best  authorities,  he  would  do  so  in  the  very  language  of 
Moses.  A  brief  comparison  of  his  statements  with  the 
"  testimony  of  the  rocks  "  will  show  that  this  statement  is 
not  unfounded. 


116  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

Thus  from  Scripture  we  learn,  that  cc  in  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  that  the  earth 
was  without  form  and  void  (invisible  and  unfurnished),  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep."  From  Geology 
•we  know,  that  there  was  a  petiod  in  the  ceaseless  flow  of 
time,  when  the  earth,  which  is  now  clothed  with  verdure 
and  throbs  with  animated  nature,  was  a  watery  waste,  de- 
void of  physical  life,  and  enveloped  with  muddy  vapors  and 
dense  clouds  of  mist  and  fog  which  effectually  shut  out  the 
rays  of  the  sun  from  its  surface. 

From  Scripture  we  learn,  that  while  darkness  was  yet 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  the  creative  Spirit  of  God  brood- 
ed upon  the  waters,  and  life  preceded  light.  By  Geology 
we  are  taught  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Creator  terminated  the 
lifeless  state  of  our  planet  in  the  next  succeeding  period  of 
time,  by  pouring  submarine  life  into  the  expanse  of  the 
primaeval  ocean,  and  the  earliest  created  specimens  of  ani- 
mal life,  anemones,  zoophytes  and  coral  animalcule,  from 
the  combination  of  whose  tiny  labors  the  vast  beds  of  lime- 
stone have  proceeded  which  are  found  in  every  part  of  the 
world,  first  made  their  appearance,  but  all  of  them  had  this 
peculiarity  that  they  were  devoid  of  organs  adapted  to  the 
perception  of  light;  thus  leading  to  the  conclusion,  that 
according  to  the  Mosaic  narrative,  light  did  not  dawn  upon 
the  globe  when  life  first  stirred  in  the  waters. 

From  Scripture  we  learn,  that  on  the  second  day  the 
Atmosphere  was  formed,  and  that  a  canopy  of  clouds  was 
suspended  above  the  firmament,  veiling  the  heavenly  nost 
of  sun,  moon  and  stars,  from  the  face  of  the  globe ;  that 
afterwards,  on  the  third  day,  dry  land  and  vegetation  ap- 
peared ;  and  finally,  on  the  fourth  day,  the  canopy  of  clouds 
being  dissolved,  the  heavenly  bodies  were  for  the  first  time 
discerned,  to  be  from  thenceforth  l  for  signs  and  for  seasons, 
and  for  days  and  for  years.'  From  Geology  we  know  that 
at  the  close  of  the  Silurian  submarine  creation  vast  moun- 


GEOLOGY.  117 

tains  were  upheaved  by  volcanic  forces  from  the  deep,  and 
land  vegetation  made  its  first  appearance,  attesting  the 
previous  existence  of  an  atmosphere ;  and  from  the  same 
source  disclosing  to  us  the  mineral  contents  of  the  great 
coal  measures,  we  know  that  the  nature,  quantity  and 
quality  of  the  vegetation  which  then  sprang  up,  were  such 
as  demonstrate  the  growth  to  have  taken  place  under  cir- 
cumstances of  long  continued  shade,  which  must  at  last  have 
been  dispelled  by  the  dispersion  of  the  superincumbent 
clouds,  and  the  admission  of  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  to 
the  earth's  surface.  The  plants  of  the  great  carboniferous 
epoch  are  such  as  never  have  "been  touched  by  a  sun  beam. 
They  are  such  precisely  as  would  have  grown  in  a  humid 
atmosphere ;  their  wood  is  not  hardened,  as  that  of  plants 
on  which  the  pure  sun-light  falls.  Thus,  both  the  Mosaic 
and  Geological  records  concur  in  testifying  that  the  order 
of  creation  was — a  clouded  atmosphere,  a  dry  land  and  its 
vegetation,  succeeded  by  the  direct  and  unimpeded  radiance 
of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars. 

From  Scripture  we  learn,  that  the  next  display  of 
creative  power  was  an  abundance  of  great  sea  monsters, 
terrestrial  reptiles  and  winged  creatures  ;  and  Geology  ex- 
poses to  our  view  in  the  next  succeeding  strata,  the  organic 
remains  of  the  then  existing  tyrants  of  the  ocean,  the  land 
and  the  air  ;  and  we  behold  profuse  swarms  of  the  gigantic 
Saurians  which  peopled  the  earth  in  "  the  age  of  Reptiles. 
Elaniosauria,  tyrants  Of  the  deep ;  Dinosauria,  tenants  of 
the  land ;  and  Ptero-dactyles  arid  feathered  birds,  the  flying 
of  wing  through  the  firmament  above  the  earth. 

"  From  Scripture  we  learn,  that  the  next  step  was  the 
creation  of  cattle  and  creeping  things,  and  beasts  of  the 
earth  (the  Mammalia).  From  Geology  we  know,  that  the 
race  of  quadruped  Mammals  did  not  come  into  existence 
until  after  the  age  of  Reptiles ;  that  the  Saurian  monsters, 
with  the  other  oviparous  reptiles  and  birds,  had  been  ten- 


118  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

ants  of  our  globe  for  ages  before  we  find  any  traces  of  a 
quadruped  Mammal. 

"  Lastly,  from  Scripture  we  learn,  that  the  closing  and 
completing  work  of  the  Creation  was  Man  ;  and  Geology 
trumphantly  confirms  the  revealed  fact,  that  submarine 
animals,  land  vegetation,  Reptiles,  Birds  and  quadruped 
Mammals,  were  all  of  them  in  existence  successively  and 
collectively,  ages  before  the  first  of  the  human  race.  It  is 
only  in  the  latest  diluvial  deposits  of  the  tertiary  period 
and  which  are  the  newest  on  the  earth's  crust,  that  the 
remains  of  man  are  to  be  found."  J  Yet  had  the  human 
race  existed  in  the  primaeval  ages  of  our  planet,  unquestion- 
ably their  remains  would  have  been  found  intermingled 
with  the  countless  fossils  of  extinct  plants  and  animals 
which  the  rocks  have  preserved.  Our  bones,  composed  of 
the  same  elements  as  those  of  the  animal  races,  are  equally 
capable  of  being  kept  from  destruction. 

But  in  the  absence  of  these  or  any  traces  of  man  in  any 
save  the  most  superficial  deposits,  we  are  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge that  Science  confirms  what  Revelation  had 
previously  declared — that  the  palace  was  prepared  ere  the 
king  appeared ;  that  the  empire  was  put  in  order  ere  the 
sovereign  was  appointed.  "For  him  volcanic  fires^had 
fused  and  crystallized  the  granite,  and  piled  it  up  into  lofty 
table  lands.  For  him  the  never  wearied  water  had  worn 
and  washed  it  down  into  extensive  vallies  and  plains  of 
vegetable  soil.  For  him  the  earth  had  often  vibrated  with 

O 

electrical  shocks,  and  had  become  interlaced  with  rich 
metallic  veins.  Ages  of  quiet  had  succeeded  each  revolu- 
tion of  nature,  during  which  the  long  accumulating  vegeta-, 
bles  of  preceding  periods  were,  for  him,  transmuted  into 
stores  of  fuel — some  of  the  deposits  of  primaeval  waters  were 
becoming  iron — and  successive  races  of  destroyed  animals 

1  This  comparison  of  the  two  records,  Mosaic  and  Geological,  is  mostly 
derived  from  McCausland's  "  Sermons  in  Stones." 


GEOLOGY,  119 

were  changed  into  masses  of  useful  material."  Thus  through 
all  these  varied  operations,  ordered  and  arranged  by  Crea- 
tive power,  wisdom  and  benevolence,  the  earth  was  gradu- 
ally framed  and  furnished  as  a  habitation  for  man.  When 
the  foundations  of  the  house  had  been  fixed,  and  its  walls 
reared,  and  its  star-spangled  canopy  overhung,  and  its  floor 
carpeted  with  soft  green,  and  fuel  and  water  laid  up  in 
store -houses,  then,  and  not  till  then,  did  man  appear, 

"  the  master  work,  the  end 

Of  all  yet  done,  a  creature  who  not  prone 
And  brute  as  other  creatures,  but  endued 
"With  sanctity  of  reason,  might  erect 
His  stature,  and  upright  with  front  serene 
Govern  the  rest,  self-knowing ;  and  from  thence 
Magnanimous  to  correspond  with  heaven, 
But  grateful  to  acknowledge  whence  his  good 
Descends,  thither  with  heart,  and  voice,  and  eyes 
Directed  in  devotion,  to  adore 
And  worship  God  supreme,  who  made  him  chief 
Of  all  his  works."— MILTON. 

Thus  the  Record  of  Moses  and  Nature's  Record  bear 
each  other  witness  in  every  particular.  The  same  narra- 
tive told  by  the  ruler  of  Israel  four  thousand  years  ago,  is 
also  told  in  its  own  expressive  and  intelligible  language  by 
the  very  earth  on  which  we  tread,  as  it  were  "  graven  with 
an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock  forever."  "  To  a  sincere 
and  unsophisticated  mind,  it  must  be  evident,"  says  Profes- 
sor Guyot,  "  that  the  grand  outlines  sketched  by  Moses  are 
the  same  as  those  which  modern  science  enables  us  to  trace; 
however  imperfect  and  unsettled  the  details  furnished  by  sci- 
entific inquiries  may  appear  on  many  points.  Whatever 
changes  we  may  expect  to  be  introduced  by  new  discover- 
ies, in  our  present  view  of  the  universe  and  the  globe,  the 
prominent  traits  of  this  vast  picture  will  remain.  And 
these  only  are  traced  out  in  this  admirable  account  of  Gen- 


120  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

esis.  These  outlines  were  sufficient  for  the  moral  purposes 
of  the  book  ;  the  scientific  details  are  for  us  patiently  to  in- 
vestigate. They  were  no  doubt  unknown  to  Moses,  as  the 
details  of  the  life  and  of  the  work  of  the  Saviour,  were  un- 
known to  the  great  prophets  who  announced  his  coming, 
and  traced  out  with  master  hand  his  character  and  objects 
centuries  before  his  appearance  on  earth.  But  the  same 
Divine  hand  which  lifted  up  before  the  eyes  of  Daniel  and 
of  Isaiah  the  veil  which  covered  the  tableau  of  the  time  to 
come,  unveiled  before  the  eyes  of  the  author  of  Genesis  the 
earliest  ages  of  the  creation.  And  Moses  was  the  prophet 
of  the  past,  as  Daniel  and  Isaiah  and  many  others  were  the 
prophets  of  the  future." 

As  it  regards  the  supposed  difficulty  of  death's  being  in 
the  world  previous  to  the  sin  of  Adam,  it  should  be  con- 
sidered that  the  Bible  is  nowhere  committed  to  the  state- 
ment that  the  death  of  the  animal  creation  is  a  consequence 
of  the  Fall  of  man.  The  assertion  of  the  apostle  that  "by 
one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world  and  death  by  sin,"  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  the  sin  of  Adam  brought  death 
upon  the  irrational  tribes  as  well  as  upon  the  human  race. 
While  the  facts  which  the  Book  of  Nature  reveals  were  un- 
known, such  a  conclusion  from  the  Apostle's  words  was  not, 
perhaps,  unreasonable ;  yet  long  before  the  discoveries  of 
Geology,  Jeremy  Taylor  considered  man  to  have  been 
created  mortal.  "They  are  injurious  to  Christ,"  he  writes, 
"  who  think  that  from  Adam  we  might  have  inherited  im- 
mortality. Christ  was  the  giver  and  preacher  of  it ;  he 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  Gospel." 
By  the  aid  of  science  we  now  learn  that  the  Apostle's  true 
meaning  is,  not  that  Death  had  never  appeared  in  the  irra- 
tional world  before  the  fall  of  man,  but  that  in  that  fearful 
event  sin  had  degraded  God's  intellectual  creature  to  the 
level  of  the  brutes  in  his  animal  nature,  and  in  his  spiritual 
to  that  of  a  lost  fallen  being.  If  the  fact  of  death's  being 


GEOLOGY.  121 

already  in  the  world  seem  to  us  inconsistent  with  its  being 
the  happy  abode  of  innocence,  the  difficulty  will  be  re- 
moved when  we  reflect  that  Infinite  Wisdom  foresaw  what 
man  would  become,  and  therefore  may  have  adapted  the 
world  to  his  permanent  rather  than  his  temporary  condi- 
tion. It  is  certain  that  carnivorous  instincts  were  implant- 
ed in  the  animal  tribes  from  the  very  first,  and  perpetual 
destruction  has  been  followed  by  continual  renovation. 
The  wise  benevolence  of  this  divine  arrangement  is  thus 
conclusively  vindicated  by  Dr.  Buckland :  "  The  law  of  uni- 
versal mortality  being  the  established  condition  on  which  it 
has  pleased  the  Creator  to  give  being  to  every  creature 
upon  earth,  it  is  a  dispensation  of  kindness  to  make  the 
end  of  life  to  each  individual  as  easy  as  possible.  The  most 
easy  death  is,  proverbially,  that  which  is  least  expected ; 
and  though,  for  moral  reasons  peculiar  to  our  own  species, 
we  deprecate  the  sudden  termination  of  our  mortal  life, 
yet,  in  the  case  of  every  inferior  animal,  such  a  termination 
of  existence  is  obviously  the  most  desirable.  The  pains  of 
sickness  and  decrepitude  of  age,  are  the  usual  precursors  of 
death,  resulting  from  gradual  decay;  these,  in  the  human 
race  alone,  are  susceptible  of  alleviation  from  internal 
sources  of  hope  and  consolation,  and  give  exercise  to  some 
of  the  highest  charities  and  most  tender  sympathies  of  hu- 
manity. But,  throughout  the  whole  creation  of  inferior 
animals,  no  such  sympathies  exist ;  there  is  no  affection  or 
regard  for  the  feeble  and  the  aged ;  no  alleviating  care  to 
relieve  the  sick ;  and  the  extension  of  life  through  linger- 
ing stages  of  decay  and  of  old  age,  would  to  each  individual 
be  a  scene  of  protracted  misery.  Under  such  a  system,  the 
natural  world  would  present  a  mass  of  daily  suffering  bear- 
ing a  large  proportion  to  the  total  amount  of  animal  en- 
joyment. By  the  existing  dispensations  of  sudden  destruc- 
tion and  rapid  succession,  the  feeble  and  disabled  are 
speedily  relieved  from  suffering,  and  the  world  is  at  all 
6 


122  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO    THE   BIBLE. 

times  crowded  with  myriads  of  sentient  and  happy  beings ; 
and  though  to  many  individuals  their  allotted  share  of  m 
life  be  often  short,  it  is  usually  a  period  of  uninterrupted 
gratification ;  whilst  the  momentary  pain  of  sudden  and 
unexpected  death  is  an  evil  infinitely  small,  in  comparison 
with  the  enjoyments  of  which  it  is  the  termination." 

The  Biblical  objection  which  has  been  supposed  to  con- 
flict with  this  divine  arrangement,  is  thus  conclusively  met 
by  Professor  Hitchcock :  "  Physiology  teaches  us  that  death 
is  a  general  law  of  organic  natures,  from  which  law,  as  we 
infer  from  Revelation,  man  was  exempt  so  long  as  he  obey- 
ed the  law  of  God.  As  a  special  favor  he  was  to  remain 
unaffected  by  the  decay  and  dissolution  to  which  other 
beings  were  subjected.  The  penalty  of  disobedience  was, 
that  he  would  forfeit  this  enviable  distinction,  and  be  sub- 
jected to  a  death  more  revolting  than  the  brutes.  The 
reward  of  obedience  was  a  continued  immunity  from  evil, 
and  a  final  translation,  without  suffering,  to  a  more  exalted 
condition.  A  presumptive  argument  in  favor  of  this  view 
is,  that  if  Adam  had  not  seen  death  in  the  animal  tribes,  it 
is  difficult  to  perceive,  how  he  could  have  any  idea  of  the 
nature  of  the  threatening.  And  we  may  be  sure  that  God 
never  promulgates  a  penalty  without  affording  his  subjects 
a  means  of  comprehending  it." l 

But  there  still  remains  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  the 
vast  antiquity  of  the  globe  which  the  various  geological 
phenomena  have  unanswerably  demonstrated,  with  the 
chronology  of  the  Mosaic  record,  which  has  been  supposed 
to  teach  that  the  earth  is  nearly  coeval  with  the  appearance 
of  man.  There  are  two  schemes  by  which  this  objection  is 
met  and  obviated,  each  of  which  has  had  the  advocacy  of 
learned  and  able  writers,  and  which  are  equally  admissible, 
without  resorting  to  any  forced  construction,  by  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture. 

The  first  supposes  that  the  opening  verse  of  the  first 
i  Hitchcock's  Religion  of  Geology,  p.  92. 


GEOLOGY.  123 

chapter  of  Genesis  refers  to  the  original  fiat  which  called 
the  material  universe  into  existence, — after  which  an  unde- 
fined and  enormous  interval  of  time  took  place ;  and  that 
the  globe  was  then  cast  into  the  chaotic  state  of  emptiness 
and  waste  described  in  the  second  verse  as  preceding  the 
six  days,  each  of  twenty-four  hours'  duration,  in  which  it 
was  fitted  and  arranged  as  a  habitation  for  man. 

It  is  claimed  for  this  hypothesis,  that  there  is  nothing  in 
it  which  is  not  entirely  consistent  with  the  discoveries  of 
geology.  "  Here,  (say  its  advocates,)  we  find  a  beginning, 
old  enough  for  all  that  geology  can  require.  These  open- 
ing sentences,  separated  off  from  the  rest  of  Genesis,  imply 
no  date  whatever ;  they  do  not  "  fix  the  antiquity  of  the 
globe."  Between  them  and  the  subsequent  narrative, 
there  is  ample  duration  for  the  discoveries  of  Geology  to 
intervene.  All  the  pre-Adamite  formations  may  be  allowed 
to  follow  this  first  opening  statement.  The  earth  may  have 
been  brought  into  shape,  replenished  with  living  creatures, 
and  again  reduced  into  chaos,  as  often  as  the  needs  of  sci- 
ence demand.  Periods  of  whatever  duration  it  requires, 
may  have  elapsed  in  those  successive  creations,  before  that 
at  which  the  inspired  historian  takes  up  the  narrative  to  re- 
late how,  at  a  time  when  the  earth  was  again  "  without 
form  and  void,"  the  Spirit  of  God  again  moved  upon  the 
face  of  the  waters,  to  inaugurate  the  creation  of  which  man 
is  the  distinguishing  feature.  And  here,  it  is  claimed,  we 
have  all  the  facts  concerning  the  origin  of  man  and  the  hab- 
itation in  which  he  is  placed,  which  the  wisdom  of  God  saw 
it  fitting  to  communicate,  or  which  it  was  needful  for  man 
to  know.  It  was  a  matter  of  deep  and  vital  interest  to  man 
to  know  how  he  came  upon  this  earth  and  who  was  the 
Author  of  his  being.  It  did  not  concern  him  to  know  the 
number  of  the  planets,  or  the  nature  of  the  laws  of  the  solar 
system,  and  upon  these  points  Scripture  is  silent.  Nor  was 
it  needful  for  him  to  know  how  many  revolutions  this  our 


124  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

globe  had  gone  through  before  he  himself  was  created,  or 
what  strange  beings  had  walked  its  surface,  before  the  last 
great  convulsion  ;  and  accordingly  no  allusion  was  made  to 
his  long  past  history.  And  surely  this  silence  as  to  other 
worlds  and  other  states  of  this  world,  matters  which  had 
no  bearing  on  man's  own  interests,  ought  to  be  ranked  as 
one  among  many  internal  evidences  of  the  Mosaic  narra- 
tive. An  impostor  would  have  sought  to  minister  to  the 
cravings  of  the  human  intellect  for  "  things  hidden  and 
marvellous"  and  spoken  upon  many  points  concerning 
which  the  oracles  of  God  are  dumb ;  but  the  inspired  writer 
gives  us  only  the  simple  record  of  the  progressive  work 
of  creation.  Saying  nothing  of  the  intermediate  condi- 
tion in  which  the  earth  may  have  lain  and  the  changes 
it  may  have  undergone,  during  a  long  series  of  ages,  he 
takes  up  its  history  where  Geology  leaves  it,  after  the  great 
convulsion  which  closed  the  Tertiary  period,  and  shows  us 
how  in  six  days  Almighty  wisdom  and  benevolence  fitted 
the  globe  as  a  residence  for  man.  Thus,  without  encroach- 
ing in  the  least  degree  upon  the  literalities  of  the  Mosaic 
narrative,  we  may  yet  allow  the  widest  scope  to  the  geolo- 
gist, and  at  the  same  time  believe  that  the  globe  was  in  ex- 
istence for  immeasurable  ages  before  man  appeared,  that  it 
underwent  a  long  series  of  revolutions,  was  tenanted  by 
animals  and  clothed  with  vegetation,  until  at  length  a  stop 
was  put  to  these  changes  by  the  ushering  in  the  birth-day 
of  a  higher  and  more  glorious  creation. 

It  must  be  allowed  that  these  are  forcible  and  weighty 
considerations,  and  the  theory  which  they  are  brought  to 
support,  was  for  a  long  time  thought  to  meet  all  the  re- 
quirements of  Geology.  It  has  numbered  among  its  advo- 
cates by  far  the  greater  number  of  those  who  have  sought 
to  harmonize  the  language  of  Scripture  with  the  discoveries 
of  science,  and  is  still,  probably,  that  which  is  most  gene- 
rally received.  But  it  is  now  contended  by  eminent  geolo- 


GEOLOGY.  125 

gists,  many  of  whom  are  the  earnest  friends  of  Revelation, 
that  this  scheme  of  reconciliation  is  no  longer  adequate.  It 
requires,  in  order  to  maintain  its  ground,  that  there  should 
be  a  "break  "  or  chaotic  period,  at  the  end  of  the  Tertiary 
period  and  just  previous  to  the  creation  of  man.  But  it  is 
asserted  that  all  the  facts  of  Geology  go  to  show  that  there 
was  no  such  universal  catastrophe  at  that  epoch,  but  that  all 
the  different  tribes  and  species  of  animals  and  plants  have 
been  gradually  introduced,  and  that  one  unbroken  chain  of 
organic  existence  connects  the  modern  world  with  those 
pre- Adamite  worlds  that  have  passed  away.  If  these  alleged 
facts  have  an  established  scientific  basis,1  the  theory  in  ques- 
tion must  be  relinquished,  unless  it  is  maintained  that  vast 
numbers  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  races  now  existing 
were  exterminated  just  previous  to  the  appearance  of  man, 
and  then  recreated  ;  but  in  such  a  procedure,  it  is  forcibly 
urged  that  we  can  not  recognize  the  signature  of  infinite 
wisdom.  It  becomes,  therefore,  of  the  highest  importance 
to  ascertain  if  there  be  not  another  hypothesis,  which  will 
at  once  harmonize  with  the  statements  of  Revelation  and 
meet  the  requirements  of  Geology.  Such  a  one  has  been 
brought  forward  by  the  late  Hugh  Miller,  and  sustained  by 
him  with  great  power  of  argument  and  illustration  in  his 
"  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,"  though  it  was  held  by  some 
previous  to  hie  day,  and  even  dates  back  to  the  age  of  St. 
Augustine,  being  found  in  his  celebrated  treatise  on  "the 
City  of  God."  The  support  of  Origen  is  also  claimed  for 
it,  and  that  of  the  venerable  Bede.  This  scheme  of  recon- 
ciliation agrees  with  the  former  in  prefixing  the  opening 
sentence  of  Genesis  to  the  geologic  periods  ;  but  instead  of 

1  It  should  here  be  stated,  that  some  of  the  present  advocates  of  the  first 
hypothesis  maintain  that  the  required  "catastrophe"  has  been  found.  In 
his  "Science  and  Scripture,"  Archdeacon  Pratt  cites  the  authority  of  the 
"Podrome  de  Palaeontologie "  of.  M.  d'Orbigny,  for  the  statement,  that 
"  between  the  termination  of  the  Tertiary  period  and  the  commencement  of 
the  Human  or  Recent  period,  there  is  a  complete  break." 


126  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

imagining  those  periods  to  be  omitted  from  the  subsequent 
narrative,  it  supposes  them  to  be  successively  indicated  in 
the  work  of  the  several  days  recorded  by  Moses.  Accord- 
ing to  its  interpretation  of  the  sacred  text,  those  days  were 
periods  of  great  and  indefinite  extent,  instead  of  being 
natural  days  of  twenty-four  hours  each.  By  this  theory, 
sufficient  time  is  afforded  for  any  duration  which  the  neces- 
sities of  Geology  require,  while  it  has  the  advantage  of 
presenting  to  us  the  works  of  creation  in  precisely  the  same 
order  in  which,  as  we  have  seen,  they  are  disclosed  to  us 
by  the  succession  of  strata  and  the  development  of  organic 
life.  The  only  obstacle  to  its  admission  seems  to  be  the 
generally  limited  acceptation  of  the  word  "  day  "  and  the 
difficulty  of  deviating  so  far  from  its  ordinary  meaning. 
But  for  this  interpretation,  it  is  able  to  quote  the  authority 
of  Scripture  itself,  which  in  texts  innumerable,  uses  the 
word  "  day  "  to  indicate  some  appointed  period  of  indefinite 
length  appropriate  to  a  particular  purpose ;  hence  "  the  day 
of  salvation,"  "  the  day  of  Jerusalem,"  "  the  day  of  Christ," 
"  the  day  of  visitation,"  and  many  others.  This  use  of  the 
word  is  indeed  so  well  established,  that  we  find  St.  Peter 
guarding  his  disciples  against  the  unbelief  of  their  times  by 
the  consideration  that  "one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a 
thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day  ;"  a  prov- 
erb so  directly  connected  with  the  received  Jewish  belief 
concerning  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  that  we  are  told  the 
Rabbis  regarded  each  of  the  six  days  there  mentioned  to 
be  (at  least)  emblematic  of  a  thousand  years.  Nor  can  it 
be  said  that  the  word  is  limited  to  the  duration  of  a  solar 
day  by  the  words  "morning  and  evening,"  with  which  it 
has  been  supposed  to  be  synonymous.  For  there  could  be 
no  apparent  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  so  as  to  afford  a 
periodic  measure  of  time,  before  his  beams  were  made  to 
penetrate  the  clouds  and  vapors  that  enveloped  the  earth, 
which  was  not  until  the  fourth  day.  It  is  r  em  askable, 


GEOLOGY.  127 

moreover,  that  whereas  at  the  end"  of  each  of  the  six  work- 
ing days  of  creation  we  find  an  evening,  the  morning  of  the 
seventh,  which  is  mentioned  at  the  close  of  the  sixth,  is  not 
followed  by  such  a  sequel,  leading  to  the  inference  that  it 
is  still  open.  There  is,  therefore,  no  absolute  and  insur- 
mountable difficulty  in  our  interpreting  the  word  "  day  "  to 
mean  a  period  of  time,  which  was  occupied  in  the  produc- 
tion of  certain  events  upon  the  earth,  and  which  is  com- 
mensurate with  the  rise  and  decline  of  a  definite  order  of 
existence  upon  its  surface.  And  if  there  are  no  other  rea- 
sons to  forbid  the  interpretation,  it  appears  to  render  the 
reconciliation  of  the  facts  of  Geology  with  the  Mosaic  nar- 
rative at  once  simple  and  complete. 

There  is,  however,  a  Scriptural  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
this  hypothesis,  which  to  some  minds  appears  insurmount- 
able. This  is  found  in  the  reason  given  in  the  book  of 
Genesis  and  repeated  in  Exodus  (xx.  11)  for  the  institution 
of  the  Sabbath.  We  are  commanded  to  work  for  six  days, 
and  rest  on  the  seventh,  because  in  six  days  God  created 
the  universe,  and  rested  on  the  seventh.  The  days  of  the 
first  part  of  the  commandment  are  obviously  those  which 
compose  the  natural  week.  Then  similar,  it  is  argued,  must 
be  the  days  in  the  latter  part ;  otherwise  the  same  word  is 
used  in  two  different  significations  in  one  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture. And  if  the  meaning  is  not  the  same,  how  could  the 
analogy  hold  good  or  where  could  be  the  legality  of  the 
inference  ? 

To  this  objection  Hugh  Miller  makes  the  following  re- 
ply :  "  Is  there  any  real  difficulty,"  he  asks,  "  in  conceiving 
that  the  smaller  divisions  of  human  time  are  to  be  ordered 
after  the  larger  ones  employed  by  the  Creator  ?  Work  for 
six  days  and  rest  on  the  seventh,  is  the  law  which  God  has 
prescribed  to  himself  and  to  us.  But  must  his  days  and 
ours  necessarily  be  of  the  same  duration  ?  Must  He  be 
held  to  have  crowded  all  the  diversified  phenomena  of  na- 


128  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

• 

ture,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  into  an  hundred  and  forty- 
four  hours,  because  ihat  is  the  measure  of  a  man's  weekly 
labor  ?  As  a  vast  continent  or  the  huge  earth  itself  is 
very  great,  and  a  map  or  geographical  globe  very  small ; 
but  if,  in  the  map  or  globe,  the  proportions  be  faithfully 
maintained,  and  the  scale,  though  a  minute  one,  be  true  in 
all  its  parts  and  applications,  we  pronounce  the  map  or 
globe,  notwithstanding  the  smallness  of  its  size,  a  faithful 
copy ;  so  may  it  be  in  regard  to  the  divine  and  human  pe- 
riods. The  vastness  of  the  one  does  not  contradict  the 
smallness  of  the  other." 

In  addition  to  this,  "  it  may  be  maintained,"  says  Mr. 
Bayne,  "  that  the  Age  theory  alone  exhibits,  in  all  their 
Scriptural  and  scientific  breadth,  the  grounds  of  the  Sab- 
batic rest.  The  scheme  of  the  geologic  periods  points  to 
the  resting  of  God  as  a  fact.  Since  the  appearance  of  man 
in  the  world,  the  work  of  creation  has  ceased.  No  species 
is  known  to  have  come  into  existence  since  the  procession 
of  being  was  closed  by  its  king.  Here,  then,  is  direct  con- 
firmation of  Scripture.  And  if  the  redemption  of  man  is 
God's  Sabbath  day's  work,  and  the  reasoning  head  of  this 
lower  creation  is  permitted,  on  each  recurrent  Sabbath  in 
the  natural  year,  to  praise  and  magnify  His  greatness  in 
that  work,  shall  we  say  that  the  sanctions  attached  to  the 
Sabbath  day  have  become,  on  account  of  the  light  cast 
by  science  on  God's  word,  less  binding  or  less  sacred  ?  " 

In  support  of  the  same  hypothesis,  Professor  Silliman 
says, — "The  allusion  in  the  commandments  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  six  days  would  of  course  be 
made  in  conformity  with  the  language  adopted  in  the  nar- 
rative, which  being  for  the  masses  of  mankind  was  neces- 
sarily a  popular  history,  although  of  divine  origin ;  and  the 
historian  adopted  a  division  of  time  that  was  in  general  use, 
although  as  to  half  the  time  at  least,  it  was  inconsistent 
with  astronomical  laws.  Extension  of  the  time  so  as  to 


GEOLOGY.  129 

cover  the  events  by  the  operation  of  physical  laws,  re- 
moves every  difficulty,  and  interferes  with  no  doctrine  of 
religion."  l 

Each  of  these  hypotheses,  let  it  be  observed,  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  letter  of  Scripture,  and  if  in  consequence 
of  the  advancement  of  discovery,  the  former  is  rendered 
untenable,  the  latter  will  remove  the  difficulty,  satisfactorily 
meet  all  the  discoveries  of  the  Geologist,  and  at  the  same 
time,  sustain  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  Creation.2  Eitker 
of  them  will  harmonize  with  the  indefinite  periods  of  dura- 
tion, through  which,  as  science  has  shown,  our  planet  must 
have  passed  anterior  to  the  appearance  of  man.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  ground  for  the  objection  of  the  infidel  that 


1  Lecture  on  Geology  before  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 

3  Another  scheme  of  reconciliation  has  been  proposed  by  a  learned  dis- 
senting divine  of  England,  Dr.  J.  Pye  Smith,  in  his  "  Relations  of  Scripture 
to  Geology."  He  agrees  with  the  first  hypothesis  in  holding  that  the  Mo- 
saic days  were  natural  days,  and  that  a  vast  undefined  interval  elapsed  be- 
tween the  commencement  of  these  days  and  the  original  universal  crea- 
tion announced  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis,  during  which  an  almost  un- 
limited series  of  changes  in  the  structure  and  products  of  the  earth  may 
have  taken  place.  After  this,  at  a  comparatively  recent  epoch,  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  earth's  surface  was  brought  into  a  state  of  disorder,  ruin  and 
obscuration ;  out  of  which  the  creation  of  the  existing  species  of  things, 
with  the  recall  of  light,  and  the  restored  presence  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
took  place  literally,  according  to  the  Mosaic  narrative,  in  six  natural  days. 
Outside  the  area  of  that  limited  creation,  and  during  the  period  of  its  evo- 
lution, many  of  our  present  lands  and  seas  may  have  enjoyed  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  been  tenanted  by  animals,  and  occupied  by  plants,  the  descend- 
ants of  which  still  continue  to  exist. 

This  theory,  though  supported  by  its  author  with  great  learning  and  in- 
genuity, has  failed  to  win  wide  acceptance,  and  has  now,  probably,  few,  if 
any  supporters,  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it  is  open  to 
objections  fully  as  grave  as  those  which  it  removes.  We  find  it  hard  to 
believe  that  the  majestic  sentences  of  the  inspired  historian  require  so  great 
a  diminution  of  the  meaning  we  have  been  accustomed  to  attach  to  them. 
Moreover,  as  Hugh  Miller  has  observed,  "although  creation  can  not  take 
place  without  a  miracle;. it  would  be  a  strange  reversal  of  all  our  previous 
conclusions  on  the  subject,  should  we  have  to  hold  that  the  dead,  dark  blank 
out  of  which  creation  arose  was  miraculous  also." 

6* 


130  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

\       * 

the  results  of  science  contradict  the  cosmogony  of  Moses. 
It  is  for  him  to  show  that  their  reconciliation  is  impossible. 
If  there  is  one  mode  of  reconcilement,  the  authority  of 
Scripture  is  sustained. 

Another  point  of  contact  between  Geology  and  Scrip- 
ture, is  the  deluge  of  Noah.  Until  the  discoveries  of  re- 
cent years,  it  was  supposed  that  the  inspired  account  of 
that  awful  judgment  of  God,  was  sufficiently  vindicated  by 
the*  organic  remains  which  are  found  alike  on  the  mountain 
summits  and  in  torrent  worn  valleys  of  the  earth.  In  this 
view  geologists  formerly  acquiesced,  and  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  able  of  their  number,  the  author  of  the  Bridge- 
water  Treatise  on  Geology,  wrote  a  book  on  the  subject, 
describing  a  cave  at  Kirkdale,  in  Yorkshire,  where  bones 
of  numerous  animals  had  been  accumulated,  it  was  sup- 
posed, by  the  waters  of  the  Noachian  deluge.  This  view 
he  afterwards  retracted,  and  it  is  now  held  by  all  geologists 
that  such  conclusions  were  premature.  A  more  rigid  scru- 
tiny of  the  supposed  diluvial  evidences  has  assigned  them 
to  a  far  remoter  epoch  than  the  flood  of  Noah,  and  it  is 
now  considered  as  an  established  result  of  scientific  research 
that  no  traces  of  a  comparatively  recent  and  temporary  del- 
uge are  now  to  be  found  on  the  earth's  surface.  The  em- 
bedded shells  and  other  fossils  which  are  found  on  different 
tracts  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  which  are  probably  to  be 
ascribed  to  diluvial  action  of  some  kind,  can  not  be,  it  is 
said,  the  results  of  one  universal  simultaneous  submergence, 
but  of  many  distinct  local  aqueous  forces,  for  the  most  part 
continued  in  action  for  long  periods,  and  of  a  kind  precisely 
analogous  to  those  now  at  work.  This  final  result  of  geo- 
logical research  has  been  eagerly  seized  upon  by  the  ene- 
mies of  Revelation,  and  because  there  are  no  physical  evi- 
dences of  such  a  catastrophe  as  the  flood  whose  history 
Moses  has  transmitted,  they  would  impugn  its  credibility  as 
an  historical  fact.  "  But  is  it  not  unreasonable  to  expect 


GEOLOGY.  131 

to  find  any  traces  of  such  an  event  at  the  present  day  so 
many  ages  after  its  occurrence  ?  Any  marks  it  left,  must 
have  been  long  since  obliterated,  or  so  mixed  up  with  the  ef- 
fects of  subsequent  gradual  changes  as  to  be  undecipherable, 
even  if  they  ever  possessed  any  characteristic  features. pecu- 
liar to  themselves."  The  really  strong  objections  are  those 
which  are  urged  against  the  deluge  being  in  the  widest 
sense  universal ;  and  it  must  be  conceded  that  some  of 
these  have  considerable  weight.  The  submersion  of  the 
entire  globe  would  have  been,  it  is  said,  an  event  for  which 
there  was  no  adequate  reason ;  and  moreover,  all  the  re- 
sources of  nature  would  not  have  been  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce it,  and  miracles  are  never  resorted  to  unless  demanded 
by  some  special  exigency.  The  entire  atmosphere  condensed 
into  rain,  and  the  depths  of  the  ocean  utterly  exhausted, 
would  not  have  been  sufficient,  it  is  asserted,  to  envelop 
th«  globe  with  water  to  the  height  of  fifteen  cubits  (twenty 
or  more  feet)  above  the  summits  of  the  loftiest  mountains. 
The  inmates  of  the  ark  raised  above  the  earth  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  five  miles,  would  have  found  an  atmosphere,  from 
its  extreme  tenuity  or  intense  cold,  fatal  to  animal  life.  If 
the  omnipotence  of  Him  to  whom  "  all  things  are  possible," 
be  presented  as  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  objections,  yet 
there  are  certain  facts  (it  has  been  urged),  which  go  to 
prove  that  Almighty  power  was  not  on  this  occasion  put 
forth  to  the  extent  supposed.  These  are  found  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  various  volcanic  regions  in  different  countries, 
especially  in  the  province  of  Auvergne  in  the  south  of 
France.  Here  are  to  be  seen  the  craters  of  volcanoes,  ex- 
tinct long  before  the  period  when  History  commences,  sur- 
rounded by  beds  of  scoriae  and  cinders,  which  it  must  have 
taken  ages  to  accumulate,  but  which  if  the  waters  of  Noah's 
deluge  overflowed  them,  must  have  been  entirely  -swept 
away.  Difficulties  are  also  started  about  the  capacity  of  the 
ark  to  contain  pairs  of  all  the  different  species  of  animals, 


132  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

including  the  peculiar  and  unique  zoology  of  Australia  and 
New  Zealand, — about  the  possibility  of  nourishing  them 
with  appropriate  food,  and  of  their  being  dispersed  from 
one  point,  the  mountains  of  Ararat,  across  seas  and  oceans 
over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth.  In  view  of  these  grave 
objections,  it  becomes  important  to  ascertain  whether  the 
commonly  received  interpretation  of  the  Mosaic  account 
of  the  deluge  is  necessarily  the  correct  one.  Does  the 
sacred  writer  intend  to  say  that  the  entire  globe,  with  its 
continents  and  islands,  its  hills  and  mountains,  was  all  buried 
beneath  the  waters  of  the  flood  ?  Certainly,  he  speaks  of 
the  purpose  of  God  to  "  destroy  the  earth."  He  says, 
"  All  the  high  hills  under  the  whole  heaven  were  covered. 
But  the  dove  found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  for  the 
icaters  were  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And  I  will  es- 
tablish my  covenant  with  you ;  neither  shall  all  flesh  be  cut 
off"  any  more  by  the  waters  of  a  flood,  neither  shall  there 
be  any  more  a  flood  to  destroy  the  earth."  But  similar 
terms  are  employed  in  other  passages  of  Scripture  in  an 
evidently  restricted  sense.  In  another  place  in  which  it  is 
evident  that  only  Palestine  and  the  countries  in  its  immediate 
neighborhood  can  be  meant,  the  language  used  by  the  in- 
spired writer  is, — "  This  day  will  I  begin  to  put  the  dread 
of  thee  and  the  fear  of  thee  upon  the  nations  that  are  un- 
der the  whole  Heaven,  who  shall  hear  report  of  thee,  and 
shall  tremble,  and  be  in  anguish  because  of  thee."  (Deut.  ii. 
25.)  And  in  other  passages  we  read :  "  And  the  famine 
was  over  all  the  face  of  the  earth.  And  all  countries  came 
into  Egypt  to  Joseph  to  buy  corn ;  because  that  the  famine 
was  so  sore  in  all  lands."  (Gen.  xli.  56,  57.)  Obadiah  de- 
clares to  Elijah,  "  As  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  there  is  no 
nation  or  kingdom  whither  my  lord  hath  not  sent  to  seek 
thee."  In  these  instances  universal  terms  have  most  clearly 
a  limited  signification.  By  what  principle  are  we,  then,  to 
determine  the  extent  of  the  signification  of  universal  terms? 


GEOLOGY.  133 

Where  are  we  to  look  for  the  key  of  the  interpretation? 
Most  clearly  we  must  seek  it  in  the  general  scope  and  pur- 
pose of  the  writer.  What  then  are  that  scope  and  purpose 
in  the  case  in  question  ?  Are  they  to  teach  physical  or 
moral  truth — to  write  the  natural  history  of  the  earth  or 
the  moral  history  of  man  ?  The  same  writer  who  says : 
"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth," 
says,  "  And  behold  I  will  destroy  them  with  the  earth."* 
Would  it  not  seem  that  the  language  in  the  latter  case  is 
of  as  wide  a  signification  as  in  the  former  ?  If  we  regard 
the  words,  we  must  answer  in  the  affirmative  ;  if  the  spirit 
in  the  negative.  In  the  history  of  the  creation,  the  great 
purpose  of  the  author  was  to  teach  the  existence  of  one 
God,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  as  a  moral,  however,  rather 
than  as  a,  natural  truth.  Were  there  no  moral  relations 
between  man  and  his  Creator,  were  we  not  bound  to  wor- 
ship, love,  serve,  and  obey  Him  as  the  source  of  all  things, 
the  doctrine  would  have  found  no  place  in  a  book  whose 
object  is  to  communicate  to  man  religious  knowledge.  But 
the  terms,  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  must  here  be  taken 
in  their  widest  sense.  If  not,  the  writer  has  failed  of  ex- 
pressing the  idea  of  a  one  Creator.  The  earth,  without 
any  doubt,  signifies  the  entire  earth.  Whatever  be  its 
form  and  dimensions,  whether  it  be  the  earth  of  the  He- 
brews, 

"  Founded  upon  the  seas, 
And  established  upon  the  floods," 

a  stationary  plain,  or  the  revolving  globe  of  modern  science, 
it  matters  not ;  it  was  all  made  in  the  beginning,  by  one 
God  the  Creator. .  Let  us  apply  the  same  rule  of  interpr*- 
tation  to  the  history  of  the  deluge*  What  in  this  history 
was  the  great  object  of  the  writer  ?  Obviously,  to  record 
a  most  important  era  in  the  dealings  of  God  with  mankind. 
It  was  to  exhibit,  as  a  moral  example,  the  destruction  of 
the  human  race  by  the  hand  of  the  Creator,  repenting  that 


134  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

He  had  made  man  upon  the  earth,  so  great  had  become  his 
violence  and  corruption.  The  destruction  of  the  earth  and 
of  the  brute  creation  was  incidental  to  the  major  purpose. 
It  would  not  have  been  mentioned,  had  it  not  been  con- 
nected with  the  destruction  of  man.  Aside  from  its  moral 
bearings,  it  was  as  unimportant  for  the  writer's  great  pur- 
pose, as  the  history  of  Sirius,  or  the  changes  which  may 
have  occurred  on  the  planet  Jupiter.  What  was  the  earth, 
which  was  corrupt, — the  earth  which  was  filled  with  vio- 
lence ?  Was  it  the  entire  terrestrial  surface  of  the  globe, 
inhabited  or  uninhabited,  or  was  it  rather  that  earth  which 
was  the  abode  of  man — the  theatre  of  human  life  ?  Plainly 
the  latter.  Now  this  was  the  earth  God  announced  his 
purpose  to  destroy.  If  the  human  race  had  become  diffused 
co-extensively  with  the  antediluvian  earth,  which  might 
have  been  the  fact,  then,  without  doubt,  the  entire  surface 
of  the  dry  land  was  comprehended  in  the  threatened  de- 
struction of  the  earth.  But  if  this  was  not  the  fact,  then 
we  can  not  fairly  extend  the  sense  of  the  sacred  writers  to 
include  every  portion  of  the  terrestrial  surface  of  the  globe, 
inhabited  or  uninhabited,  unless  such  a  destruction  was 
incidentally  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
object.1 

Most  probably,  however,  the  occupation  of  the  earth's 
surface  at  that  time  was  very  limited,  and  the  late  Hugh 
Miller,  in  his  "  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,"  has  shown  how 
all  the  phenomena  of  the  Deluge  might  have  been  produced 
by  the  gradual  submergence  and  rising  again  of  the  country 
comprised  within  a  radius  of  a  few  hundred  miles  around 
the  dwelling  place  of  Noah,  so  as  to  include  the  portion  of 
the  globe  then  inhabited.  This  phenomenon  of  the  change 
of  level  of  large  portions  of  the  earth's  surface,  by  depres- 
sion or  elevation,  is  not  unknown  to  geologists;  though  the 
periods  in  which  these  vast  oscillations  occur  are  of  im- 
measurably longer  duration  than  that  of  the  Deluge.  He 

i  Fellowe's  History  of  the  Deluge. 


GEOLOGY.  135 

shows  that  the  depression  during  the  first  forty  days  might, 
nevertheless,  have  been  so  gradual  as  to  be  almost  imper- 
ceptible, except  from  the  effects — the  pouring  in  of  the 
mighty  waters  from  the  neighboring  seas  into  the  growing 
hollow,  and  the  disappearance  of  the  mountain  tops.  And 
when,  after  a  hundred  and  fifty  days  had  elapsed,  the  de- 
pressed hollow  began  slowly  to  rise  again,  the  boundless  sea 
around  the  ark  would  flow  outwards  again  towards  the 
distant  ocean,  and  Noah  would  see  that  "  the  fountains  of 
the  deep  were  stopped,  and  the  waters  were  returning  from 
off  the  earth  continually." 

The  above  hypothesis,  which  was  supported  in  former 
times  by  such  eminent  authorities  as  Bishop  Stillingfleet  and 
Matthew  Poole,1  furnishes  a  complete  answer  to  all  the  ob- 

1  Said  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  "  I  can  not  see  any  urgent  necessity  from  the 
Scripture  to.  assert  that  the  flood  did  spread  over  all  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  That  all  mankind,  those  in  the  ark  excepted,  were  destroyed  by  it, 
is  most  certain,  according  to  the  Scriptures.  The  flood  was  universal  as  to 
mankind ;  but  from  thence  follows  no  necessity  at  all  of  asserting  the  uni- 
versality of  it  as  to  the  globe  of  the  earth,  unless  it  be  sufficiently  proved 
that  the  whole  earth  was  peopled  before  the  flood,  which  I  despair  of  ever 
seeing  proved." — Origines  Sacrce,  B.  3,  c.  4. 

The  eminent  commentator,  Matthew  Poole,  in  his  Synopsis  on  Gen.  7:19, 
has  the  following  observations:  "It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  entire 
globe  of  the  earth  was  covered  with  water.  Where  was  the  need  of  over- 
whelming those  regions  in  which  there  were  no  human  beings?  It  would 
be  highly  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  mankind  had  so  increased  before 
the  deluge,  as  to  have  penetrated  to  all  the  corners  of  the  earth.  Absurd 
it  would  be  to  affirm  that  the  effects  of  the  punishment  inflicted  upon  men 
alone,  applied  to  places  in  which  there  were  no  men.  If  then  we  should 
entertain  the  belief  that  not  so  much  as  the  hundredth  part  of  the  globe 
was  overspread  with  water,  still  the  deluge  would  be  universal,  because 
the  extirpation  took  effect  upon  all  the  part  of  the  world  which  was  then 
inhabited." 

To  the  above  may  be  added  the  following  remarks  by  Dr.  King  of  Glas- 
gow, in-tiis  "  Principles  of  Geology  Explained."  "  If  we  adopt,"  he  says, 
(p.  61,)  "the  principle  which  the  Scripture  itself  so  unequivocally  sanctions 
— that  general  terms  may  be  used  with  a  limited  sense — the  whole  account  is 
simple  and  consistent.  A  deluge  of  great  extent  inundated  the  dry  land.  In 
respect  to  men,  whom  it  was  designed  to  punish  for  their  wickedness,  it  was 


136  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

jections  which  were  supposed  to  lie  against  the  Mosaic  his- 
tory of  the  Deluge,  and  derives  from  Geology  a  presumption 
in  its  favor,  inasmuch  as  that  science  demonstrates  that  our 
globe  at  various  periods  must  have  been  subjected  to  the 
operation  of  similar  agencies.  It  is  said  that  a  recent  ex- 
amination of  a  large  tract  of  Asia,  comprising  Armenia, 
Georgia,  and  part  of  Persia,  and  of  certain  marine  deposits 
which  are  found  therein,  is  strongly  corroborative  of  the 
same  view.  Not  impossibly,  we  may  be  approaching  the 
era  of  a  more  interesting  discovery  than  that  which  has 
called  forth  ancient  Nineveh  from  her  long  entombment. 
Truth  is  sometimes  stranger  than  fiction,  and  it  may  be, 
says  an  able  writer  in  the  North  British  Review,  that  "  the 
first  city — the  city  of  Enoch,  may  yet  be  surveyed  in  stone 
or  in  dust,  beneath  some  nameless  heap  where  the  Arme- 
nian shepherd  now  feeds  his  flocks ;  and  the  brass  and  iron 
utensils  of  Tubal  Cain  may  yet  exhibit  to  us  the  infant  in- 
genuity of  our  race.  The  planks  of  Gopher  wood  which 
floated  Noah  over  the  universe  of  waters  may  yet  rise 
from  the  flanks  or  the  base  of  Ararat  in  lignite  or  in 
coal ;  and  the  first  altar — that  which  Noah  builded  to  his 
Maker  and  Preserver,  may  yet  be  thrown  up  from  its 
burying  place  by  the  mighty  earthquakes  that  shake  the 
plain  of  the  Araxes." 

Whether  these  brilliant  conjectures  shall  ever  be  realized 
or  not,  it  is  certain,  that  with  the  advancement  of  discovery, 
the. opposition  which  had  been  supposed  to  exist  between 
Revelation  and  Geology  has  disappeared,  and  of  the  eighty 
theories  which  the  French  Institute  counted  in  1806,  as  hos- 
tile to  the  Bible,  not  one  now  stands.  "  The  minute  philos- 
phers,  to  borrow  an  epithet  of  the  great  Berkeley,  may 

universal,  excepting  only  Noah  and  his  family,  whom  it  pleased  God  to  spare 
alive.  Along  with  them  were  preserved  such  animals  as  were  most  useful  to 
them,  and  such  as  were  fitted  to  fulfil  the  purposes  of  Providence  after  the 
waters  should  have  retired." 


GEOLOGY.  137 

think  for  a  time,  that  their  boasted  discoveries  are  irrecon- 
cileable  with  revelation.  They  may  raise  the  sand  hills  of 
their  systems,  and  think  from  them  to  demolish  the  fortress 
of  the  divine  word.  Vain  and  impotent  the  attempt !  Some 
fortunate  discovery,  as  science  advances,  demolishes  the 
whole  by  a  single  roll  of  its  mighty  waters,  and  the  next 
wave  dashes  it  into  oblivion."  "Shall  it  any  longer  be 
said,  that  a  science  which  unfolds  such  abundant  evidence 
of  the  being  and  attributes  of  God,  can  reasonably  be  viewed 
in  any  other  light  than  as  the  efficient  auxiliary  and  handmaid 
of  religion  ?  Some  there  still  may  be,  whom  timidity,  or 
prejudice,  or  want  of  opportunity,  allow  not  to  examine  its 
evidence ;  who  are  alarmed  by  the  novelty,  or  surprised  by 
the  magnitude  and  extent  of  the  views  which  geology  forces 
on  their  attention ;  and  who  would  rather  have  kept  closed 
the  volume  of  witness  which  has  been  sealed  up  for  ages 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  earth  than  to  impose  on  the  stu- 
dent in  natural  theology  the  duty  of  studying  its  contents 
—a  duty  in  which  for  lack  of  experience  they  may  antici- 
pate a  hazardous  or  laborious  task,  but  which,  by  those  en- 
gaged in  it,  is  found  to  be  a  rational,  and  righteous,  and 
delightful  exercise  of  the  highest  faculties  in  multiplying 
the  Evidence  of  the  existence,  and  attributes,  and  Provi- 
dence of  God.  The  alarm,  however,  which  was  excited  by 
its  first  discoveries,  has  well  nigh  passed  away ;  and  those 
to  whom  it  has  been  permitted  to  be  the  humble  instruments 
of  their  promulgation,  and  who  have  steadily  persevered, 
under  the  firm  conviction  that  "  truth  can  never  be  opposed 
to  truth,"  and  that  the  works  of  God  when  rightly  under- 
stood, and  viewed  in  their  true  relations,  and  from  a  right 
position,  would  at  length  be  found  to  be  in  perfect  accord- 
ance with  his  word",  are  now  receiving  their  high  reward 
in  finding  difficulties  vanish,  objections  gradually  withdrawn, 
and  in  seeing  the  evidences  of  geology  admitted  into  the  list 
of  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  great  fundamental  doctrines 


138  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

of  Christianity."     Bridgewater  Treatise  on  Geology,  vol.  i. 
p.  593. 

The  claim  which  Dr.  Buckland  here  asserts  in  behalf  of 
his  favorite  science,  finds  still  farther  vindication  in  the  im- 
portant services  rendered  by  the  discoveries  of  Geology  to 
the  cause  of  Revelation,  in  the  unanswerable  refutation  they 
have  furnished  to  the  development  hypothesis  of  Lamarck, 
Oken  and  others,  and  the  once  boasted  argument  of  Hume 
against  the  miracles  of  the  Bible.  Akin  to  the  nebular 
theory  by  which  suns  and  planets  are  supposed  to  be  grad- 
ually evolved  by  the  condensation  of  a  widely  diffused 
vapor  or  fire-mist,  a  system  has  been  devised  and  elabor- 
ated by  a  certain  school  of  modern  philosophers,  supported 
by  ingenious  arguments  and  an  imposing  show  of  science, 
by  which  in  place  of  the  Almighty  fiat  calling  them  into 
existence,  all  vegetable  and  animal  forms  of  organic  life  are 
accounted  for  by  the  agency  of  natural  laws.  Man  has  not 
been  created  but  developed.  "  We  call  in  question,"  says 
the  author  of  the  "Vestiges  of  Creation,"  "not  merely  the 
simple  idea  of  the  unenlightened  mind,  that  God  fashioned 
all  in  the  manner  of  an  artificer  seeking  by  special  means 
to  produce  special  effects,  but  even  the  doctrine  in  vogue 
among  men  of  science,  that '  creative  fiats '  were  required 
for  each  new  class,  order,  family,  and  species  of  organic 
beings,  as  they  successively  took  their  places  upon  the 
globe,  or  as  the  globe  became  gradually  fitted  for  their 
reception."  According  to  the  Bible,  "  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness.  So  God 
created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created 
He  him."  But  according  to  this  theory,  a  "  primary  cause," 
which  philosophy  does  not  venture  to  define,  created  at 
first  only  microscopic  monads  or  embryonic  points,  and 
from  these,  by  a  process  of  natural  development  extending 
through  vast,  indefinite  periods  of  duration,  arose  all  the 
various  tribes  of  animated  being.  Creatures  of  "  the  sun- 


GEOLOGY.  139 

plest  and  most  primitive  type  gave  birth  to  a  type  superior 
to  it  in  compositeness  of  organization  and  endowment  of 
faculties ;  this  again  produced  the  next  higher,  and  so  on 
to  the  highest ;  the  advance  being  in  all  cases,  small,  but 
not  of  any  determinate  extent."  Thus  one  unbroken  chain 
connects  the  animalcule  with  man !  Such  is  the  theory  by 
which  "  science  falsely  so  called  "  would  remove  the  Crea- 
tor from  his  throne  to  be  replaced  by  a  blind  necessity 
called  the  law  of  development.  But  how  does  it  agree 
with  the  stubborn  facts  of  inductive  science?  Ask  the 
geologist  what  witnesses  he  has  found  in  the  primitive 
records  of  the  rocks,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  "he  has 
gone  down  in  his  search  to  the  foundations  of  the  earth, 
where  the  igneous  rocks  have  warned  him  that  he  had 
reached  primaeval  creation ;  and  in  his  upward  journey  he 
has  met  with  mosses  and  ferns  and  palms,  and  higher  vege- 
table productions ;  each  of  which,  as  standing  at  the  head 
of  a  species,  he  is  bound  to  regard  as  having  been  brought 
into  existence  separately  and  independently.1  Ascending 

1  The  following  valuable  observations  on  this  point  are  from  a  recent 
scientific  work  of  the  highest  authority.  "  There  are  no  doubt  differences  in 
the  individuals  of  a  species,  depending  on  soil,  and  on  different  conditions  of 
heat,  light  and  moisture.  But  these  differences  are  not  incompatible  with 
the  idea  of  a  common  origin  ;  and,  moreover,  we  find  that  there  is  always  a 
tendency  to  return  to  type.  What  is  called  a  variety,  is  an  individual  of  a 
species  exhibiting  variations  which  are  not  in  general  of  a  permanent  char- 
acter, and  which  can  not  be  kept  up  in  the  natural  state,  or,  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, by  seed.  By  means  of  buds  or  slips  such  varieties  may  be  con- 
tinued ;  but  if  their  seeds  are  sown  in  ordinary  soil,  and  left  to  grow  wild, 
the  plants  tend  to  return  to  the  specific  type.  In  certain  plants,  such  as 
cereal  crops  and  culinary  vegetables,  varieties  have  been  perpetuated  from 
seed  by  the  art  of  cultivation ;  and  thus  races  are  kept  up  by  artificial  means. 
But  when  the  seeds  of  such  plants  are  sown  in  ordinary  circumstances,  and 
the  plants  are  allowed  to  grow  wild,  we  then  see  that  there  is  a  return  to  the 
parent  type.  In  illustration  of  this  statement,  we  may  refer  to  ordinary 
vegetables,  such  as  cabbage,  cauliflower,  broccoli,  etc.  (Brassica  Oleracea.) 
This  plant  grows  wild  on  our  sea  shores  in  certain  places,  and  when  culti- 
vated it  assumes  peculiar  forms.  Thus  it  forms  a  heart,  as  in  ordinary  cab- 
bage ;  its  flower  stalks  become  thickened  or  shortened,  as  in  cauliflower  or 


140  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

higher  still,  he  has  discovered  various  forms  of  animal  life, 
higher  and  lower ;  and  he  confesses  that  he  knew  no  other 
or  scientific  way  of  accounting  for  their  existence,  than 
that  of  a  new  creation — the  action  of  a  power  above  nature 
bringing  them  into  nature.  Ask  him  if  "  development "  is 
not  equal  to  the  production  of  those  forms?  and  he  will 
tell  you,  that  in  all  his  scientific  observations  he  has  never 
known  the  occurrence  of  the  transition  of  one  of  these 
forms  of  life  to  another, — he  has  never  witnessed  the  oper- 
ation, and  the  earth  has  disclosed  to  him  no  case  in  which 
it  was  progressing  or  performed.  But,  as  Cuvier  asks, 
"  why,  if  such  transformations  have  occurred,  do  not  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  preserve  the  records  of  *such  a  cu- 
rious genealogy  ?  "  That  they  are  wholly  unknown  to  the 
realms  of  nature  is  a  point  upon  which  the  most  distin- 
guished geologists  and  anatomists  are  unanimous.  At 
each  arrangement  of  organic  life  after  the  creation,  says 
Professor  Sedgwick,  "  tribes  of  sentient  beings  were  created 
and  lived  their  time  upon  the  earth.  At  succeeding  epochs, 
new  tribes  of  beings  were  called  into  existence,  not  merely 
as  the  progeny  of  those  that  had  appeared  before  them,  but 
as  new  and  living  proofs  of  creative  interference, — and 
though  formed  on  the  same  plan  and  bearing  the  same 
marks  of  wise  contrivance,  often  as  unlike  those  that  pre- 

broccoli ;  or  its  cellular  tissue  is  largely  developed,  so  as  to  give  rise  to  the 
curled  appearance  of  greens.  These  varieties  are  continued  by  cultivation ; 
and  after  a  series  of  generations,  the  seeds  of  the  varieties  propagate,  more 
or  less  completely,  plants  of  a  similar  nature.  But  if  they  are  allowed  to 
grow  wild,  then  in  the  progress  of  time  the  variations  disappear,  and  the 
original  type  of  the  species  is  reverted  to.  The  varieties  of  apples  and  pears 
are  continued  by  the  art  of  horticulture  and  the  process  of  grafting ;  but  the 
seeds  of  these  plants,  when  allowed  to  grow  wild,  produce  the  original  stock, 
viz.,  the  crab  apple  or  crab  pear,  whence  all  the  varieties  have  been  pro- 
duced. All  these  facts  show  the  permanency  of  species  in  nature,  and  con- 
tradict the  crude  ideas  of  those  so-called  naturalists,  who  state  that  one 
species  can  be  transmuted  into  another  in  the  course  of  generations." — Botany 
and  Religion,  ly  Prof.  BALFOUR. 


GEOLOGY.  141 

ceded  them,  as  if  they  had  been  matured  in  a  different 
portion  of  the  universe,  and  cast  upon  the  earth  by  the 
collision  of  another  planet."  "  For  myself,"  says  Agassiz, 
"  I  have  the  conviction  that  species  have  been  created  suc- 
cessively at  distant  intervals,  and  that  the  changes  which 
they  have  undergone  during  a  geological  epoch  are  very 
secondary,  relating  only  to  their  fecundity,  and  to  migra- 
tions dependent  on  epochal  influences."  Lyell  gives  it  as 
the  result  of  careful  inquiry,  "  that  species  have  a  real  ex- 
istence in  nature,  and  that  each  was  endowed  at  the  time 
of  its  creation  with  the  attributes  and  organs  by  which  it  is 
now  distinguished."  "  Everything,"  says  Sir  Charles  Bell, 
in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  "  declares  the  species  to  have 
its  origin  in  a  distinct  creation,  not  in  a  gradual  variation 
from  some  original  type ;  and  any  other  hypothesis  than 
that  of  a  new  creation  of  animals  suited  to  the  successive 
changes  in  the  inorganic  matter  of  the  globe — the  condition 
of  the  water,  atmosphere,  and  temperature — brings  with  it 
only  an  accumulation  of  difficulties."  1  That  new  species 
of  living  creatures  were  introduced  at  various  periods  in 
the  history  of  the  ancient  earth,  is  one  of  the  most  certain 
of  the  discoveries  of  geology,  and  as  no  cause  can  be  found 
among  natural  agents  fitted  to  produce  the  effect,  we  are 
compelled  to  recognize  the  only  known  cause  capable  of 
producing  it — the  fiat  of  the  Creator.  "  Nature  is  but  the 
name  for  an  effect  whose  cause  is  God." a 

1  Pearson  on  Infidelity. 

3  In  a  recent  inaugural  address  at  Edinburgh  University,  Sir  David  Brew- 
ster  thus  scatters  the  air-woven  speculations  of  Mr.  Darwin  :  "  As  Mr.  Dar- 
win has  appealed  to  facts  and  principles  in  support  of  his  theory,  we  must 
appeal  to  facts  and  principles  for  its  refutation.  He  maintains  :  1.  That  va- 
riations in  species  actually  arise  in  the  course  of  descents  from  a  common 
progenitor.  2.  That  many  of  these  variations  are  an  improvement  on  the 
original  stock.  3.  That,  by  a  continued  natural  selection,  from  among  these 
improved  specimens,  occasioned  by  a  struggle  for  life,  the  most  vigorous  in- 
dividuals become  the  progenitors  of  the  next  generation.  4.  That  there  is  a 
power  in  nature  everywhere  affecting  this  selection.  Naturalists  of  high 


142  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

The  same  geological  discoveries  strike  also  at  the  root 
of  every  sceptical  argument  against  miracles.  As  these 
constitute  a  main  pillar  of  Christian  evidences,  the  enemies 
of  the  Bible  have  taxed  all  their  resources  of  wit  and 
sophistry  to  break  down  their  testimony.  Hume  argued 
against  their  probability  on  account  of  their  being  opposed 
to  what  he  calls  "  the  uniform  experience  of  mankind,"  and 
his  followers  in  the  school  of  doubt,  at  the  present  day, 
deny  the  possibility  of  supernatural  interposition  in  any 
case  whatever.  Because  a  certain  order  and  arrangement 
have  been  impressed  upon  the  face  of  nature,  in  accordance 
with  which,  as  by  an  inevitable  necessity,  fire  will  burn  and 
a  body  will  sink  in  water,  and  other  physical  causes  pro- 
duce their  customary  effects,  therefore,  the  sceptic  argues, 
"  the  antecedent  improbability  of  a  miracle  or  a  deviation 
from  the  laws  of  nature  is  so  great,  that  no  testimony  in  its 
behalf  can  ever  possibly  amount  to  a  probability,  much  less 
to  a  proof."  By  various  learned  pens,  the  fallacy  of  this 

authority  have  followed  Mr.  Darwin  through  all  his  arguments,  and  have 
shown  in  the  clearest  manner  that  his  theory  is  inconsistent  with  the  very 
facts  upon  which  he  has  rested  it.  It  is  out  of  my  sphere,  and  yours  also,  to 
discuss  this  question  as  one  of  natural  history ;  but  even  in  this  aspect  of  it, 
we  may  allow  that  species  do  admit  of  great  variations,  and  may,  by  new 
methods  of  feeding  and  culture,  rise  to  a  higher  scale,  and  yet  deny  that 
there  is  any  evidence  even  of  one  species  of  the  same  genus  having  passed 
into  another,  and  still  less  that  fish  have  passed  into  fowl,  or  birds  into 
beasts,  or  quadrupeds  into  men.  We  have  absolute  proof,  indeed,  of  this 
immutability  of  species,  whether  we  search  for  it  in  historic  or  geological 
times.  The  cat  and  dog  embalmed  in  Egypt  four  thousand  years  ago,  are 
the  same  as  the  cat  and  dog  of  the  present  day ;  and  in  the  fossil  remains  of 
the  pre-Adamite  ages,  there  is  not  the  slightest  proof  of  any  variations  in  the 
successive  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  Mr.  Darwin  himself  admits,  to  use  his 
own  words,  'that  this  is  the  most  obvious  and  grave  objection  to  his 
theory ; '  but  yet  he  conjectures  that  rocks  still  undiscovered,  and  myriads 
of  years  older  than  the  Cambrian  or  azoic  strata,  may  still  bear  testimony  to 
his  views.  When  such  strata  with  such  indications  are  discovered,  when 
the  instinct  of  the  elephant  shall  have  expanded  into  reason,  and  the  chatter 
of  the  parrot  have  its  climax  in  speech,  we  may  then  claim  kindred  with  the 
brutes  that  perish." 


GEOLOGY.  143 

reasoning  has  been  most  thoroughly  and  ably  exposed.  It 
has  been  shown  that  the  objection  confounds  general  with 
universal  experience,  and  that  nothing  can  be  more  un- 
founded and  irrational  than  to  assume  that  all  things  which 
are  or  can  be,  must  fall  within  the  measure  of  the  finite 
understanding  of  man.  As  well  might  a  blind  man  assume 
that,  through  the  senses  he  possesses,  he  gains  all  possible 
knowledge  of  creation.  Miracles  are  not  a  breaking  in 
upon  the  order  of  nature  "  in  any  other  sense  than  that  in 
which  the  will  of  man,  in  every  moment  of  man's  conscious 
existence,  is  a  breaking  in  upon  the  order  of  nature.  In 
this  sense  all  the  world  is  a  scene  of  perpetual  confusion — 
it  is  a  chaos  of  '  violences ; '  foy  wherever  man  comes  in 
upon  the  material  world,  he  comes  in  to  turn  aside  its 
course,  or  to  interrupt,  or  to  give  a  new  direction  to,  its 
order.  The  order  of  nature  allows  the  bird  to  wing  itself 
from  East  to  West,  or  from  tree  to  tree ;  but  the  shaft  of 
the  savage,  or  the  gun  of  the  sportsman,  brings  its  plumage 
to  the  dust."  But  apart  from  reasoning,  here  is  "  testi- 
mony" from  "  the  rocks"  which  cannot  be  gainsayed  or 
eluded.  Geology  furnishes  evidences,  in  the  changes  both 
of  the  globe  itself  and  of  its  successive  living  creatures, 
that  the  course  of  nature  has  not  always  been  what  it  is 
now.  It  is  certain  that  the  whole  globe  has  once  been  in  a 
state  of  igneous  fusion  ;  that  there  was  a  time  when  no  an- 
imals or  plants  existed  on  the  earth ;  that  several  distinct 
economies  of  life,  or  groups  of  animals  and  plants,  have 
occupied  the  surface,  each  adapted  to  the  altered  condition 
of  things ;  that  these  ancient  races  have  been  unlike  one 
another,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  in  the  highest  forma- 
tions, unlike  those  alive,  the  resemblance  between  the  liv- 
ing and  fossil  types  becoming  more  unlike  as  we  descend ; 
and  that  man's  appearance  on  the  globe  has  been  compara- 
tively recent.  Thus  through  the  measureless  ages  before 
the  appearance  of  man,  the  history  of  the  creation  had 


144  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

been  the  history  of  the  miraculous.  And  is  it  philosophi- 
cal to  conclude,  that  on  the  creation  of  man  everything  of 
this  nature  abruptly  and  forever  ceased?  May  we  not 
more  rationally  infer  that  if  God  has  so  frequently  inter- 
posed by  special  acts  in  the  ages  preceding  the  present 
state  of  the  globe,  it  forms  a  strong  presumption  that  He 
has  done  so  at  that  most  wondrous  epoch  of  the  world's 
history — the  introduction  of  Christianity  ?  The  miracles 
of  the  Bible  are  in  themselves  worthy  of  His  infinite  wis- 
dom, majesty  and  grace, — they  are  authenticated  by  the 
clearest  and  most  commanding  evidence,  and  Geology  has 
now  shown  that  there  is  no  antecedent  improbability  which 
should  forbid  their  reception. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

PHYSICAL   SCIENCE   CONTTNTJED. 

WE  have  thus  far  seen  that  there  is  no  real  discrepancy 
or  contradiction  between  the  teachings  of  Astronomy  and 
Geology  and  the  statements  of  the  Bible,  and  that  as  those 
sciences  have  advanced,  previous  difficulties  have  vanished, 
and  the  closer  has  the  harmony  been  manifested  that  exists 
between  the  records  of  revelation  and  the  operations  of 
the  Creator  in  the  material  world.  Our  object  in  the 
present  chapter  will  be  to  show  that  this  harmony  is  capa- 
ble of  yet  wider  illustration,  and  that  the  more  thoroughly 
we  investigate  the  relations  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  with 
Physical  Science,  the  clearer  and  more  convincing  will  be 
the  evidence  that  the  Author  of  nature  and  of  revelation 
is  the  same. 

How  can  the  sceptic  account  for  the  undeniable  fact 
that  no  errors  or  absurdities  connected  with  science,  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Bible  ?  The  Mosaic  records  date  back  to 
the  infancy  of  our  race,  and  the  entire  sacred  canon  was 
closed  ages  before  the  wondrous  march  of  scientific  dis- 
covery can  be  said  to  have  commenced ;  yet  in  the  numer- 
ous references  and  allusions  which  the  inspired  writers 
make  to  physical  facts,  though  expressed  in  language  suited 
to  all  time,  and  capable  of  being  understood  in  ages  wholly 
ignorant  of  science,  not  all  the  light  which,  in  the  present 
and  preceding  centuries,  has  been  thrown  upon  the  secrets 
of  nature,  has  been  able  to  detect  a  single  blunder  or  dis- 
crepancy. 

7 


146  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

This  is  a  test  which  the  Zendavesta,  the  Koran  and  the 
Shaster,  with  all  the  oracles  held  sacred  by  the  heathen, 
cannot  stand.  As  soon  as  they  touch  upon  the  domains . 
of  science,  their  statements  reveal  the  grossest  ignorance, 
so  that  it  has  been  said  that  the  spread  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge ensures  the  overthrow  of  all  the  religions  of  heathen- 
dom. The  slightest  examination  of  the  sacred  books  of  the 
heathen,  and  even  of  the  systems  of  their  most  renowned 
philosophers,  will  show  that  their  science  was  no  less  absurd 
than  their  theology. 

Thus  in  Greek  and  Latin  philosophy,  the  heavens  were 
a  solid  vault  over  the  earth,  a  sphere  studded  with  stars,  as 
Aristotle  called  them.  The  sages  of  Egypt  held  that  the 
world  was  formed  by  the  motion  of  the  air  and  the  upward 
course  of  flame  ;  Plato  that  it  was  an  intelligent  being ; 
Xenophanes  that  God  and  the  world  were  the  same  thing. 
Empedocles  maintained  that  there  were  two  suns ;  Leucip- 
pus  that  the  stars  were  kindled  by  their  motions,  and  that 
they  nourished  the  sun  with  their  fires. 

Some  of  the  followers  of  Pythagoras  supposed  the 
milky  way  to  be  an  old  disused  path  of  the  sun,  out  of 
which,  some  said,  he  was  frightened  by  the  banquet  of 
Thyestes.  Anaxagoras  is  said  to  have  thought  it  was  the 
shadow  of  the  earth  ;  Aristotle  believed  it  to  be  sublunary, 
and  to  consist  of  exhalations  of  the  same  matter  as  comets. 
Posidonius  took  it  for  a  band  of  fire ;  Theophrastus  for  a 
solid  and  luminous  band,  joining  together  the  two  hemi- 
spheres ;  while  Diodorus  thought  it  was  a  celestial  fire 
shining  through  the  cliffs  of  the  solid  heavens. 

Another  class  of  Greek  philosophers  conjectured  that 
matter  is  eternal,  and  that  all  the  beauty,  order,  and  gran- 
deur of  the  universe,  are  the  result  of  chance  or  a  fortui- 
tous concourse  of  atoms ! 

All  Eastern  nations  believed  that  the  heavenly  bodies 
exercised  powerful  influence  over  human  affairs,  often  of  a 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  147 

disastrous  kind,  and  that  all  nature  was  composed  of  four 
elements,  viz.,  fire,  air,  earth  and  water, — substances  cer- 
tainly not  elementary. 

In  the  Hindoo  Philosophy,  the*  globe  is  represented  as 
flat  and  triangular,  composed  of  several  stories,  the  whole 
mass  being  sustained  upon  the  heads  of  elephants,  who  in 
turn  were  supported  by  a  huge  tortoise.  Their  shaking  of 
themselves  was  supposed  to  be  the  cause  -of  earthquakes. 
Mahomet  taught  that  the  mountains  were  created  to  pre- 
vent the  earth  from  moving  and  to  hold  it  as  by  anchors 
and  chains.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church  themselves  teach 
doctrines  scarcely  less  absurd.  "The  rotundity  of  the 
earth  is  a  theory,"  says  Lactantius,  "  which  no  one  is  igno- 
rant enough  to  believe."  And  even  the  great  Kepler,  who 
made  some  of  the  most  important  discoveries  ever  achieved 
in  science,  was  not  freed  from  those  strange  and  to  us  child- 
ish imaginings,  which  were  current  in  former  times  as  ex- 
planations of  difficult  problems  in  the  phenomena  of  nature. 
In  1619  he  published  a  work  in  which  he  affirmed  that  the 
earth  was  a  living  animal,  for  that  "when  a  stone  was 
thrown  into  the  deep  clefts  of  a  high  mountain,  a  sound 
was  returned  from  them  ;  and  when  it  was  thrown  into  one 
of  the  mountain  lakes,  which,  without  doubt,  were  bottom- 
less, a  storm  immediately  arose ;  just  as  a  ticklish  animal 
would  shake  its  head,  or  run  shuddering  away,  when  a  straw 
was  thrust  into  his  ear  or  nose."  This  was  the  extravagant 
conception  of  one  of  the  world's  master  minds,  the  observer 
for  whom  (according  to  his  own  famous  boast)  the  universe 
so  long  had  waited.  Yet  the  same  work  contains  a  defence 
of  the  view  that  the  orbs  of  heaven  are  engaged  in  perform- 
ing a  concert  of  music,  in  which  Jupiter  and  Saturn  take 
the  bass  ;  Mars,  the  Earth,  and  Venus,  the  tenor  ;  and  Mer- 
cury the  treble. 

In  their  observation  of  those  positive  facts  which  are 
the  basis  of  natural  science,  we  find  the  same  credulity  and 


148  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

extravagance.  "  If  the  theologians  of  pagan  antiquity  were 
poets,  as  Bacon  observes,  their  naturalists  were  even  worse. 
Animals  that  crowded  about  their  steps,  and  which  they 
could  not  move  their  eyes  without  seeing,  are  the  heroes  of 
the  most  extravagant  legends.  The  whole  world  is  meta- 
morphosed by  superstition.  Truth  is  ignominiously  swept 
out,  and  dreams  substituted  for  reality.  Writers  stride 
forward  from  prodigy  to  prodigy,  with  the  arrogance  and 
self-esteem  of  authors  who  scorn  to  be  observers. 

"  According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Metempsychosis, 
introduced  into  Greece  by  Pythagoras  and  Timgeus,  the 
brute  animals  are  human  beings  in  altered  forms.  In  their 
new  shape,  they  preserve  a  recollection  of  their  former 
condition.  They  were  believed  by  some  philosophers  to 
possess  three  souls — the  sensitive,  rational,  and  vegetative 
soul — corresponding  to  what,  in  recent  times,  has  been 
termed  intellectual,  organic,  and  animal  life.  A  book  was 
written  by  Plutarch,  to  prove  that  animals  possess  reason, 
inasmuch  as  the  operations  of  our  boasted  understanding 
are  more  liable  to  error  than  the  mysterious  operations 
of  instinct.  Poets,  and  even  philosophers,  regarded  them 
as  our  earliest  teachers  of  the  useful  arts. 

"According  to  Pliny,  fishes  with  horses'  heads  were 
often  seen  in  the  Arabian  Sea,  out  of  which  they  crawled 
at  night  to  graze  in  the  fields.  The  same  learned  writer 
testifies  to  having  seen  a  centaur,  embalmed  in  honey,  ex- 
hibited in  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  while  the  earliest 
Christian  writers,  Justin,  Cyprian  and  Jerome,  admit  their 
existence,  and  believed  them  to  be  fallen  angels,  condemned 
to  wander  through  dismal  solitudes  and  uninhabited  forests, 
until  the  day  of  judgment. 

"  The  existence  of  the  phoenix  also  was  an  object  of  the 
firmest  belief  in  the  ancient  world,  and  is  attested  by  the 
very  gravest  historians.  The  appearance  of  a  phoenix  in 
the  consulship  of  Paulus  Fabius,  and  Yitellius,  or  the  thir- 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  149 

ty-fourth  year  of  our  era,  is  described  by  Tacitus  as  an 
event  of  the  first  importance,  and  worthy  of  transmission 
to  the  remotest  posterity.  "  Every  five  hundred  years  the 
phoenix,"  says  Tacitus,  "  comes  into  existence,  though  it  is 
true,"  he  adds,  "  some  assign  four  hundred  and  sixty-one 
years  as  the  true  period.  ^  The  first  phoenix  appeared  in 
the  reign  of  Sesostris ;  the  second  was  seen  in  the  reign 
of  Amasis;  and  the  last  under  Ptolemy  III.  This  last 
phoenix,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  feathered  attendants 
whom  it  far  outshone  in  splendor  of  plumage,  took  its 
flight  to  Heliopolis,  the  city  of  the  sun." 

Pliny  also  gravely  informs  us  that  "  it  is  not  generally 
known,  what  has  been  discovered  by  men  eminent  for  their 
learning,  in  consequence  of  their  assiduous  observations  of 
the  heavens,  that  the  fires  which  fall  upon  the  earth,  and 
which  receive  the  name  of  thunderbolts,  proceed  from 
the  three  superior  stars,  but  principally  from  the  one  (Ju^ 
piter)  that  is  placed  in  the  middle." 

To  this  list  of  absurdities  which  the  most  gifted  and  cul- 
tivated minds  once  mistook  for  science,  a  list  which  might 
be  indefinitely  extended,  we  will  only  add  that  Virgil  has 
anticipated  the  famous  "  discovery  "  of  Mr.  Crosse.  In  his 
fourth  Georgic,  he  gives  a  recipe  for  the  production  of  bees 
where  the  hive  may  have  lost  its  usual  colony,  whereby  a 
brood  of  the  ingenious  insects  may  be  "  spontaneously  gen- 
erated "  from  the  blood  of  a  slaughtered  heifer.1 

How  striking  a  contrast  to  this  mass  of  error  and  ab- 
surdity, is  presented  in  the  pages  of  the  Bible !  Though 
composed  long  before  the  dawn  of  science,  and  though  few 
of  its  writers  could  lay  claim  even  to  the  learning  and 
culture  that  were  attainable  in  the  times  in  which  they 
lived,  they  have  yet  so  written  as  to  stand  the  test  of  sci- 
ence. No  crude  theories  or  exploded  principles  of  Astron- 
omy, Geology,  or  any  of  the  sciences,  no  story  of  the  four 
1  Georgics,  iv,  308. 


150  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

elements,  no  legend  of  such  terrestrial  supporters  as  the 
tortoise  and  the  elephant,  are  to  be  found  within  its  com- 
pass. While  the  stars  are  frequently  introduced  in  Scrip- 
ture language  in  magnificent  comparisons,  there  is  no  men- 
tion of  their  benign  or  malign  aspects ;  we  have  none  of 
the  nonsense  of  Astrology,  which  pervaded  all  reference  to 
the  heavenly  bodies  in  the  writings  of  learned  men  until 
two  centuries  ago.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  this  in  the 
Bible ;  star-gazers  and  prognosticators  are  mentioned  there 
only  to  be  derided.  And  of  such  monstrous  absurdities 
respecting  the  facts  of  the  kingdom  of  nature,  as  those 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  received  the  undoubting  credence 
of  the  best  minds  of  antiquity,  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace. 
"  And  to  what  can  this  immeasurable  superiority  of  the 
sacred  writers  be  ascribed,  but  to  the  direct  influence  and 
control  of  an  Omniscient  Mind,  wrhose  instruments  they 
were  ?  Must  we  not  be  compelled  to  perceive  the  infinite 
wisdom  of  God  overruling  their  thoughts  and  guiding  their 
expressions ;  guarding  their  ignorance  against  intruding  into 
a  domain  foreign  to  their  subject  ?  so  that,  whether  they 
pursue  the  course  of  sober  narrative,  or  pour  forth  the  out- 
bursts of  prophetic  song,  they  never  imperil  or  degrade 
the  truth  of  God  by  entwining  around  it  the  foreign  growth 
of  human  prejudices  and  misconceptions  in  science.  In 
their  writings,  the  tree  of  life  shoots  up  like  the  palm  tree 
in  the  desert,  with  straight  tapering  stem,  free  from  every 
meaner  undergrowth  and  parasitical  appendages,  waving  its 
verdant  crown  in  the  pure  air  and  calm  light  of  Heaven."  l 
And  not  only  is  the  Bible  free  from  every  shade  of  er- 
ror;— its  language  possesses  another  remarkable  charac- 
teristic, which  has  already  received  partial  illustration. 
Though  it  is  the  language  of  appearances  and  carefully 
avoids  scientifical  technicalities,  it  can  yet  be  readily  ad- 
justed to  every  new  scientific  discovery,  and  harmonized 

1  Thompson's  Lectures  on  Inspiration. 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  151 

with  every  successive  stage  of  human  advancement.  "  As 
each  new  world  of  wonders  has  risen  upon  our  view,  and 
each  grand  discovery  has  added  its  light  to  the  firmament 
of  our  science,  the  language  of  the  Bible  has  opened  to  re- 
ceive it,  as  if  endued  with  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  and 
the  expansive  power  of  an  infinite  intelligence.  In  a  mul- 
titude of  passages,  its  pregnant  oracular  words,  enigmatical 
and  dark  at  first,  have  become  luminous  with  the  lapse  of 
time."  1  As  obscure  prophecies  have  been  made  plain  by 
the  events  which  fulfilled  them,  so  the  progress  of  science 
enables  us  now  to  see  that  its  brilliant  discoveries  were  al- 
ready anticipated  in  the  sacred  word. 

A  striking  example  of  the  Bible's  entire  avoidance  of 
error  in  its  allusions  to  the  grand  phenomena  of  nature  is 
found  in  the  104th  Psalm.  This  magnificent  composition, 
than  which,  says  Bishop  Lowth,  "  nothing  can  be  conceived 
more  perfect  of  its  kind,"  demonstrates  the  glory  of  the 
Creator  from  the  wisdom,  beauty,  and  variety  of  his  works. 
It  may  be  considered  as  a  poetical  version  of  the  narrative 
of  creation  in  Genesis.  Like  Moses,  the  inspired  Psalmist 
begins  with  God,  the  Almighty  King  of  kings,  whose  rai- 
ment is  the  light,  whose  palace  is  in  the  heavens,  whose 
chariots  are  the  clouds,  and  whose  retinue  are  angelic  spir- 
its, who  hasten  like  the  wind  and  the  lightning  to  fulfil  his 
pleasure.  He  then  glances  to  the  earth  and  tells  us  who 
"  laid  its  foundations  that  they  should  not  be  moved  for- 
ever." "  From  the  inanimate  creation  he  makes  a  transition 
by  the  springs  and  streams  of  water  to  the  living  creatures 
which  quench  their  thirst  and  rejoice  in  their  Creator's 
bounty.  He  speaks  of  the  provision  made  for  such  crea- 
tures as  the  wild  asses  of  the  desert,  and*  the  fowls  of  heaven 
which  sing  among  the  branches  of  the  trees.  And  then  he 
speaks  of  man,  of  the  provision  made  for  man,  and  of  the 
adaptation  of  all  things  to  man,  the  chief  of  all  these  lower 
1  Literary  Attractions  of  the  Bible,  by  Dr.  Halsey. 


152  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

works  of  God."  The  whole  psalm  is  written  in  the  highest 
style  of  poetry,  and  yet  in  all  this  wide  range  of  topics,  the 
keenest  eye  of  science  cannot  discern  the  slightest  error, 
while  the  phenomenal  language  respecting  the  earth's  im- 
movability, as  has  already  been  shown,  contains  an  implied 
recognition  of  a  great  scientific  truth.  How  remarkable  a 
testimony  to  the  Bible  this  accuracy  is,  will  be  felt  when  it 
is  remembered  that  Milton,  who  wrote  his  immortal  poem 
hardly  two  hundred  years  ago,  speaks  of  the  "  five  other 
wandering  fires,"  supposing  that  to  be  the  number  of  the 
planets  which  with  the  earth  and  sun  make  up  our  system. 
No  such  charge  of  ignorance  can  be  fixed  upon  David  or 
any  other  of  the  sacred  writers.  Baron  Humboldt,  who 
cannot  be  accused  of  any  undue  partiality  for  the  Bible, 
thus  speaks  of  this  sacred  hymn :  "  We  are  astonished  to 
find  in  a  lyrical  poem  of  such  a  limited  compass,  the  whole 
universe — the  heavens  and  the  earth — sketched  with  a  few 
bold  touches.  The  calm  and  toilsome  life  of  man,  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun  to  the  setting  of  the  same  when  his  daily 
work  is  done,  is  here  contrasted  with  the  moving  life  of  the 
elements  of  nature.  This  contrast  and  generalization  in 
the  conception  of  natural  phenomena,  and  the  retrospection 
of  an  omnipresent  invisible  Power,  which  can  renew  the 
earth  or  crumble  it  to  dust,  constitute  a  solemn  and  exalted 
form  of  poetic  creation." 

Surely  a  sketch  of  the  "  Cosmos  "  which  was  written 
when  science,  at  least  what  is  now  recognized  as  such,  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  existed,  and  which  yet  elicited  the 
admiration  of  a  mind  like  Humboldt's,  familiar  with  the 
whole  range  of  science,  must  have  been  penned  under  the 
guidance  of  Omniscience. 

But  there  are  also  other  instances  in  the  Bible  of  what 
we  can  now  perceive  to  be  anticipations  of  the  brilliant 
discoveries  of  science. 

Thus  the  Bible  has  anticipated  science  in  the  distinction 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  153 

which  Moses  makes  between  the  primitive  light  and  that 
whose  benefits  we  derive  from  the  sun.  He  has  represented 
it  to  us  as  an  element  independent  of  that  luminary,  having 
been  called  forth  by  the  Almighty  fiat  on  the  first  day, 
whereas  he  seems  to  ascribe  the  creation  of  the  sun  and 
moon  to  the  fourth  day.  This  statement  was  long  regarded 
by  believers  in  Revelation  as  a  great  difficulty,  and  was 
pointed  to  by  the  sceptic  as  a  palpable  contradiction  to 
physical  facts.  It  was  thought  impossible  that  light  could 
have  existed  apart  from  that  great  luminary  which  presides 
over  the  day.  But  the  advance  of  science  has  dispelled  the 
difficulty  and  established  the  accuracy  of  the  Mosaic  narra- 
tive. The  exhumed  remains  of  animals  belonging  to  ages 
long  preceding  man's  appearance  on  earth,  had  eyes,  which 
by  a  necessary  inference  argued  the  co-existence  of  light. 
It  is  now  known  also,  that  the  gigantic  vegetation  which 
produced  the  coal  deposits  could  not  have  grown  under  the 
blaze  of  solar  light.  This  conclusion  is  a  result  of  botani- 
cal considerations.  Moreover,  the  fossils  of  plants  and  an- 
imals which  are  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  carboniferous 
period  in  all  latitudes,  being  analogous  only  to  those  which 
now  flourish  between  the  tropics,  reveal  a  state  of  climate 
which  could  not  have  been  governed  in  any  great  degree 
by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  .  Late  discoveries  also  of  certain 
peculiarities  in  the  nature  of  light  have  given  additional 
strength  and  probability  to  the  theory  of  vibrations,  accord- 
ing to  which  there  is  an  ethereal  fluid  diffused  throughout 
the  universe  of  inconceivable  rarity  and  elasticity,  and  that 
light  and  heat  are  phenomena  evolved  from  it  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  sun.  In  harmony  with  this  hypothesis,  a  more 
critical  examination  of  the  original  language  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, has  shown  that  it  is  not  said  that  light  was  created 
or  made,  but  it  was  called  forth,  i.  e.,  commanded  to  shine 
out  of  the  darkness  which  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep  ; 
and  the  sun  and  moon  are  styled,  not  lights,  but  "  light 
7* 


154  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

bearers,"  intimating  that  they  were  but  reflectors  of  light 
to  the  earth,  and  that  it  existed  independently  of  them. 

In  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Job,  which  has  already 
been  quoted,  we  find  also  a  remarkable  anticipation  of 
modern  discovery  in  relation  to  the  laws  which  govern 
light.  "  The  day  spring  "  is  there  said  "  to  take  hold  of 
the  ends  of  the  earth,"  and  "  it  is  turned  as  clay  to  the 
seal,  and  they  stand  as  a  garment."  In  this  beautiful  figure 
there  is  an  allusion  to  the  cylindrical  seals  that  were  used 
in  ancient  Babylon.  Just  as  such  a  seal  rolls  over  the  blank 
and  formless  clay,  and  there  instantly  starts  up  in  relief  a 
fine  group  of  objects,  so  the  day  spring  revolves  over  the 
space  which  the  darkness  made  empty  and  void ;  and  as  if 
created  by  the  movement,  all  things  stand  forth  in  brilliant 
attire. 

But  there  is  evidently  here  a  reference  to  that  adapta- 
tion of  light  to  the  earth's  atmosphere  and  to  that  property 
of  light  by  which  it  is  refracted,  bends  down,  and  takes 
hold  of  us  by  slow  degrees.  The  action  of  the  atmosphere 
upon  the  course  and  direction  of  the  sun's  rays,  is  the  cause 
of  the  day's  breaking  upon  us  with  such  delicacy  and  gen- 
tleness. If  there  were  no  atmosphere,  the  sun  would  burst 
upon  us  suddenly,  and  we  should  pass  in  an  instant  from 
the  darkness  of  night  to  the  full  blaze  of  day;  but  now 
the  air  waits  for  his  coming,  and  "  takes  hold  "  of  his  rays, 
and  bending  and  refracting  them,  gradually  spreads  them 
over  the  horizon,  thus  gently  drawing  aside  the  curtain  of 
night,  and  revealing  the  radiance  of  the  sky,  the  verdure 
of  the  fields,  the  tints  of  flowers,  the  lovely  diversity  of 
the  landscape,  all  clad  in 

"  Nature's  resplendent  robe  !  1 
Without  whose  vesting  beauty  all  were  wrapped 
In  unessential  gloom." 

1  A  remarkable  illustration  of  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity, which  has  been  developed  by  modern  researches  into  the  laws  and  prop- 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  155 

Iii  like  manner,  Scripture  first  informed  us  that  God 
"  gave  to  the  air  its  weight,  and  to  the  waters  their  just 
measure."  l  The  property  which  is  here  assigned  to  the 
invisible  but  potent  fluid  which  surrounds  the  earth,  re- 
mained unknown,  even  to  such  students  of  nature  as  Aris- 
totle and  Bacon,  until  the  experiments  of  Galileo  and  Tori- 
celli  demonstrated  a  truth  which  had  lain  uncomprehended 
in  the  Bible  for  ages.  The  "  measure  of  the  waters  "  ex- 
presses that  existing  proportion  of  land  and  sea  which  the 
advancement  of  physical  knowledge  now  enables  us  to  per- 

erties  of  light,  claims  an  insertion  here.  "  Light  is  easily  separated  into  its 
component  colors,  by  transmitting  it  through  a  glass  prism,  where  it  is  re.- 
solved  into  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo  and  violet,  which  consti- 
tute, when  combined,  white  or  ordinary  light.  This  band  of  colors  is  called 
spectrum.  Now  it  will  be  perceived  that  red,  yellow  and  blue  are  its  primary 
or  essential  colors,  the  others  being  merely  produced  by  the  admixture  or 
overlapping  of  two  adjoining  primary  colors ;  thus,  orange  is  found  between 
the  red  and  yellow,  green  between  the  yellow  and  blue;  so  that,  in  fact,  we 
have  only  the  three  primary  colors  to  deal  with,  each  of  which  has  its  peculiar 
properties  and  attributes  distinct  from  the  others ;  thus,  the  red  is  the  calor- 
ific or  heating  principle  ;  the  yellow  is  the  luminous  or  light-giving  principle ; 
while  it  is  in  the  blue  ray  that  the  power  of  actinism,  or  chemical  action  is 
found.  Now,  it  is  this  trinity  of  red,  yellow  and  blue,  which  constitutes, 
when  combined,  the  unity  of  ordinary  or  white  light.  When  separated,  this 
unity  of  light  is  divided  into  the  trinity  of  colors.  Although  one  and  the 
same,  neither  can  exist  without  the  other.  The  three  are  one,  the  one  is 
three.  Thus  we  have  a  unity  in  trinity,  and  a  trinity  in  unity  exemplified  in 
light  itself;  and  "  God  is  light."  Plants  will  live  and  grow  luxuriantly  un- 
der the  influence  of  the  red  and  yellow  rays ;  but  however  promising  the 
appearance,  the  blossom  dies,  and  no  fruit  can  be  produced  without  the  en- 
livening power  of  the  blue  rays.  When  this  invisible  action  is  wanting,  the 
trinity  and  unity  is  incomplete.  Life  is  unproductive  until  the  three,  united 
in  one,  bring  all  things  to  perfection.  Thus  each  member  of  the  trinity  in 
unity  of  light  has  its  especial  duty  to  perform,  and  is  in  constant  operation 
visibly  or  invisibly,  although  one  power.  Even  far  beyond  the  visible  violet 
ray  of  the  prismatic  spectrum,  the  spirit  of  actinism  prevails.  Its  chemical 
influence  can  be  proved  to  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  our  vision.  Thus  there 
is  in  light  an  invisible  agency  always  in  action  ;  and  the  more  the  subject  is 
investigated,  the  more  striking  is  the  illustration  between  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  made  manifest,  and  the  wonderful  properties  of  jight  which  have  been 
gradually  unfolded  bythe  researches  of  man." — Temple  Bar  Magazine. 
1  Job  xxviii,  25.  "  Ruach"  in  this  passage  evidently  means  air. 


156  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

ceive  to  be  just  that  which  is  essential  to  the  maintenance 
of  both  animal  and  vegetable  life. 

The  superior  weight  of  the  atmosphere  is  the  interme- 
diate cause  by  which  "  vapors  ascend  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth,"  enumerated  by  David  in  the  135th  Psalm,  among 
the  special  reasons  for  thankfulness  to  God.  Yet  it  is  only 
by  the  aid  of  modern  science  that  we  are  enabled  to  under- 
stand the  importance  of  this  arrangement.  We  .now  per- 
ceive that  if  this  wonderful  and  extensive  process  of  nature 
were  to  cease,  there  would  be  no  rains  or  dews  to  fertilize 
our  fields,  and  the  consequence  would  be,  the  earth  would 
be  parched,  and  the  vegetable  productions  which  afford  us 
subsistence  would  wither  and  decay,  the  whole  system  of 
terrestrial  nature  would  be  deranged,  and  man,  and  all  the 
other  tribes  of  animated  nature  deprived  of  those  comforts 
which  are  essential  to  their  existence,  would  in  a  short  time 
perish  from  the  earth. 

Science  has  of  late  endeavored  to  investigate  the  laws 
which  govern  the  winds  and  rule  the  sea,  and  has  arrived 
at  some  interesting  conclusions ;  but  in  a  few  words,  the 
royal  Solomon  has  expressed  truths  which  volumes  have 
been  written  to  illustrate.  He  tells  us  that  "  the  wind  goeth 
toward  the  south,  and  turneth  about  unto  the  north ;  it 
whirleth  about  continually,  and  the  wind  returneth  again 
according  to  his  circuits."  That  is,  various  and  capricious 
as  their  movements  may  appear,  they  are  yet  governed  by 
laws  as  fixed  and  certain  as  those  which  regulate  the  tides 
of  the  ocean  or  the  orbits  of  the  planets.  The  same  All- 
wise  and  Almighty  Ruler  who  hath  set  bounds  to  the 
waters  of  the  deep,  and  said  to  them,  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou 
come,  and  no  further,"  hath  assigned  "  their  circuits "  to 
the  winds  of  heaven,  from  which  they  cannot  deviate,  and 
within  which  they  are  perpetually  confined.  Again  he 
says,  "  all  the  rivers  run  into  the  sea ;  yet  the  sea  is  not  full ; 
unto  the  place  from  whence  the  rivers  come,  thither  they 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  157 

return  again."  What  is  this  but  a  setting  forth  of  that 
wonderful  and  beautiful  economy  of  nature,  according  to 
which  the  thirsty  air  is  continually  drinking  up  the  sea — . 
sucking  up  the  waters  of  the  deep  in  spongy  clouds,  and 
bearing  them  away  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  dash- 
ing them  against  the  lofty  ridges  of  the  land,  and  thus 
filling  the  far  off  lakes  and  far  up  fountain  heads  whence 
the  rivers  come  ;  and  thereby  maintaining,  undisturbed  and 
unaltered  from  age  to  age,  that  ceaseless  circulation  of  the 
watery  element,  by  virtue  of  which  the  rivers  continually 
flow,  while  yet  no  increase  is  ever  made  to  the  volume  of 
the  deep — a  perfect  balance  being  thus  preserved  between 
them.  Science  is  beginning  to  unfold  the  wisdom  and 
harmony  of  cosmical  arrangements,  but  it  is  evident  that 
some  at  least  of  her  discoveries  had  been  "  searched  out " 
by  Solomon  long  ago. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  correctness  of  Scripture 
allusion  to  physical  facts  has  been  recently  pointed  out  by 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  living  geologists.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  distribution  of  gold  in  its  original  vein- 
stone, or  parent  rock,  differs  from  that  of  every  other  metal 
in  the  superficial  range  of  its  particles  or  threads.  Lodes 
of  iron,  copper,  and  argentiferous  lead  ores,  when  followed 
downward,  generally  become  more  and  more  productive — 
the  reverse  being  the  case  with  gold.  "  The  indisputable 
fact  is,  that  the  chief  quantities  of  gold,  including  all  the 
considerable  lumps  and  pepitas,  having  been  originally 
embedded  in  the  upper  parts  of  the  vein-stones,  have  been 
broken  up  and  transported  with  the  debris  of  the  mountain 
tops  into  slopes  and  adjacent  valleys.  .  .  .  Modern  science, 
instead  of  contradicting,  only  confirms  the  truth  of  the 
aphorism  of  the  patriarch  Job,  which  thus  shadowed  forth 
the  downward  persistence  of  the  one  and  the  superficial 
distribution  of  the  other  :  "  Surely  there  is  a  vein  for  the 
silver.  .  .  .  The  earth  hath  dust  of  gold."  (Job  xxviii,  1, 
6.)  Murchison's  Siluria,  p.  457. 


158  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

A  very  remarkable  expression  occurs  in  the  Apocalypse 
(xvi,  18),  bearing  on  the  work  of  preparing  the  earth  for 
man  before  man  was  made  :  "  And  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake, such  as  was  not  since  men  were  upon  the  earth,  so 
mighty  an  earthquake  and  so  great."  There  the  advent  of 
man  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  earth,  is  formally  given  as  the 
epoch  after  which  great  earthquakes  did  not  occur.  It  is 
well  known  now  that  earthquakes  must  have  rent  this 
globe  before  the  birth  of  man,  which  make  all  that  have 
occurred  since  sink  into  insignificance  ;  but  how  was  John 
the  fisherman  led  to  employ,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
a  phraseology  which  the  researches  of  our  own  day  have 
now  for  the  first  time  shown  to  be  philosophically  exact  ? 
Speaking  of  this  verse  and  quoting  it  freely,  John  Banyan 
(Reign  of  Antichrist)  says,  "  For  the  earthquake,  it  is  said 
to  be  such  as  never  was,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so 
great."  He  thought  the  phrase  "  since  men  were  upon  the 
earth,"  was  equivalent  to  "  never,",  and  was  thus  led  into 
what  we  now  see  to  be  an  error.  What  but  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  Omniscient  Spirit  preserved  John  the 
Apostle  from  the  mistake  into  which  John  Banyan  fell  ? 

Still  other  facts  of  Physical  science  that  are  indicated  in 
the  Bible  might  be  enumerated.  But  enough  have  been 
given  to  justify  the  remark  of  the  illustrious  Sir  John  Her- 
schel,  "that  all  human  discoveries  seem  to  be  made  only 
for  the  purpose  of  confirming  more  strongly  the  truths 
come  from  on  high,  and  contained  in  the  sacred  writings." 

This  does  not,  however,  exhaust  the  testimony  of  Phys- 
ical science  to  the  Bible.  Not  only  are  the  primary  facts 
of  the  kingdom  of  nature  accurately  delineated  in  the  pages 
of  Scripture,  but  those  great  principles  which  are  the  ulti- 
mate results  of  science,  and  which  have  been  obtained  by 
long  and  laborious  processes  of  induction,  are  there  recog- 
nized and  frequently  and  plainly  asserted. 

Thus,  it  has  been  one  of  the  great  achievements  of 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  159 

modern  science  to  demonstrate  the  universal  prevalence  of 
law — that  it  extends  where  the  uninstructed  mind  sees  only 
caprice  or  supernatural  agency — that  it  regulates  not  only 
the  motions  of  the  planets,  the  succession  of  the  seasons, 
and  the  tidal  vibrations  of  the  ocean,  but  every  fitful 
breeze,  every  forming  cloud,  and  every  falling  shower. 
Yea,  even 

"  The  very  law  that  moulds  a  tear, 

And  makes  it  trickle  from  its  source, 
That  law  preserves  the  globe  a  sphere, 
And  guides  the  planets  in  their  course." 

This  is  also  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  It  knows  nothing 
of  fortuitous  occurrences,  but  everywhere  asserts  the  do- 
minion of  invariable,  natural  law,  extending  to  things  ani- 
mate and  inanimate,  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  It  teaches 
us  that  according  to  the  ordinances  which  God  has  estab- 
lished, there  is  a  decree  for  the  rain  and  a  way  for  the 
thunder  flash — the  sea  "  passeth  not "  its  bounds  and  the 
earth  abideth  forever — the  sun  serveth  for  a  light  by  day, 
and  the  moon  and  the  stars  for  a  light  by  night.  Seed  time 
and  harvest,  and  cold  and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter, 
and  day  and  night,  do  not  cease.  The  hawk  is  said  to  "  fly 
by  his  wisdom  ;  the  eagle  mounteth  up  at  his  command, 
and  maketh  her  nest  on  high,  from  whence  she  seeketh  her 
prey,  and  her  eyes  behold  it  afar  off."  "  The  stork  in  the 
heavens  knoweth  her  appointed  times ;  and  the  turtle,  the 
crane  and  the  swallow  observe  the  times  of  their  coming." 
"Forever,  O  Lord,  thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven.  Thou 
hast  established  the  earth  and  it  abideth.  They  continue 
this  day  according  to  thine  ordinance ;  for  all  are  thy  ser- 
vants." While,  however,  atheistic  philosophers  have  en- 
deavored to  deduce  an  argument  from  the  uniform  processes 
of  nature  against  the  possibility  of  supernatural  interference, 
as  if  "the  laws  of  nature"  were  an  inexorable  chain  of 
adamant  (an  inference,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  both  As- 


160  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

tronomy  and  Geology  disprove),  the  Bible  accords  with 
the  discoveries  of  science  in  ascribing  immutability  to  the 
Mind  of  Him  who  constituted  the  natural  order  of  things 
and  not  to  that  order  itself.  "  God,"  says  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, "  acteth  in  what  is  called  nature  according  to  accurate 
and  uniform  laws,  except  when  it  be  good  for  Him  to  act 
otherwise."  And  the  Bible  teaches  us  :  "  He  doeth  what- 
soever pleaseth  him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  in  the  sea  and 
in  all  deep  places."  It  was  not  by  the  blind  operation  of 
mere  lifeless  laws  that  this  glorious  universe  sprang  into 
being,  nor  is  it  by  them  alone  that  it  is  still  upheld.  There 
is  a  wise  and  beauteous  order  of  cause  and  effect,  a  law 
whose  "voice  is  the  harmony  of  the  world,  and  to  which  all 
things  in  heaven  and  earth  do  homage,"  but  "  her  seat  is 
the  bosom  of  God."  The  highest  link  of  the  golden  chain 
is  in  his  hand.  "  Tell  me  not,"  says  an  eloquent  writer,1 
"  of  forces  centripetal  and  forces  centrifugal — tell  me  not 
of  gravitation  holding  the  invisible  reins  by  which  the  un- 
resting steeds  of  the  sky  are  by  strong  curb  restrained 
within  appointed  bounds,  and  compelled  to  keep  their  path  ; 
will  these  forces  account  for  the  first  propulsion  ?  Who  at 
the  beginning  launched  forth  those  stupendous  orbs  ?  Who 
impressed  on  them  that  primeval  force  ?  Who  gave  them 
their  first  direction  ?  Who  weighed  them  in  scales,  regu- 
lating their  orbit  and  their  speed?  And  who  ordained 
these  relationships  between  the  various  forces  of  nature,  so 
that  the  tendency  to  rush  to  the  centre  might  be  so  coun- 
terpoised by  the  impulse  to  rush  from  the  circumference, 
that  a  steady  motion  along  the  same  path  is  the  result  ? 
By  whose  arrangement  and  upholding  power  is  it  that  we 
never  dread  the  moon  dashing  against  the  earth,  the  earth 
hastening  to  terrible  collision  with  the  sun,  the  planets 
rushing  madly  through  space,  and  the  sky  becoming  thus  a 
vast  battle  field,  strewn  with  the  fragments  of  stars  and 
satellites  ? 

i  Rev.  Newman  Hall. 


PHYSICAL    SCIENCE.  161 

"  Have  ye  not  known — hath  it  not  been  told  you  from 
the  beginning — have  ye  not  understood  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  earth  ?  It  is  He  who  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of 
the  earth,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  as  grasshop- 
pers ;  that  stretcheth  out  the  heavens  as  a  curtain,  and 
spreadeth  them  out  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in.  Lift  up  your 
eyes  on  high,  and  behold  who  hath  created  all  these  things, 
that  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number  ?  It  is  He  who 
meted  out  the  heavens  with  a  span,  and  comprehended  the 
dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed  the  mountains 
in  scales  and  the  hills  in  a  balance.  It  is  He  who  stretcheth 
out  the  North  over  the  empty  place,  and  hangeth  the 
earth  upon  nothing.  By  His  Spirit  He  hath  garnished  the 
heavens.  He  telleth  the  number  of  the  stars,  He  calleth 
them  all  by  their  names.  He  commandeth  the  sun,  and  it 
riseth  not,  and  sealeth  up  the  stars.  He  bindeth  the  sweet 
influences  of  Pleiades,  and  looseth  the  bands  of  Orion.  He 
bringeth  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season,  and  guideth  Arctu- 
rus  with  his  sons.  Lo  !  these  are  but  a  part  of  His  ways, 
but  the  thunder  of  His  power  who  can  understand?" 

By  the  aid  of  geologic  discovery,  Science  has  proved 
that  in  addition  to  those  unvarying  physical  laws,  by  which 
in  accordance  with  a  wise  and  benevolent  arrangement 
uniformity  is  preserved  in  the  present  system  of  things, 
there  is  also  a  higher  law  of  progress  and  development. 
The  "  testimony  of  the  rocks  "  has  taught  us  that  through 
the  unmeasured  ages  of  the  past,  the  mineral,  vegetable, 
and  animal  kingdoms  of  nature  have  exhibited  continually 
fresh  manifestations  of  creative  power,  wisdom,  and  good- 
ness. "  From  the  lowly  seaweeds  of  the  Silurian  strata  and 
marsh  plants  of  the  old  red  sandstone,  we  rise  (speaking  in 
general  terms)  to  the  prolific  club  mosses,  reeds,  ferns,  and 
gigantic  endogens  of  the  coal  measures  ;  from  these  to  the 
exagons  or  true  timber  trees  of  the  tertiary  and  current 
eras.  So  also  in  the  animal  kingdom  ;  the  graptolites  and 


162  TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

trilobites  of  the  silurian  seas  are  succeeded  by  the  higher 
Crustacea  and  bone-clad  fishes  of  the  coal  measures ;  the 
sauroid  fishes  by  the  gigantic  saurians  and  reptiles  of  the 
oolite  ;  the  reptiles  of  the  oolite  by  the  huge  mammalia  of 
the  tertiary  epoch ;  and  these  in  time  give  place  to  exist- 
ing species,  with  man  as  the  crowning  form  of  created  ex- 
istence." 1 

At  the  very  commencement  of  the  Bible  (as  has  in  effect 
been  already  shown)  we  have  this  identical  principle  em- 
bodied in  the  gradual  elaboration  ot  all  things  in  the  six 
creative  days  or  periods,  rising  from  the  formless  void  of 
the  beginning,  through  successive  stages  of  inorganic  or 
organic  being  up  to  man.  This  culmination  reached,  how- 
ever, the  process  was  arrested  by  that  fatal  act  which  broke 
the  harmony  of  creation — when 

"  Earth  felt  the  wound,  and  Nature  from  her  seat 
Sighing  through  all  her  works  gave  signs  of  woe, 
That  all  was  lost." 

The  golden  link  was  then  broken  which  bound  man  and  ah1 
the  lower  creatures  with  Him  to  the  throne  of  God.  Here 
Science  fails  us,  and  unaided  by  revelation  is  unable  even 
to  read  the  traces  v/hich  the  moral  ruin  of  our  race  has 
stamped  upon  the  face  of  nature.  And  of  the  developments 
of  the  Creator's  boundless  and  inexhaustible  resources  to  be 
unfolded  in  the  future,  she  can  tell  us  nothing.  The  uni- 
form confession  of  her  votaries  is  that,  respecting  these,  it 
were  vain  to  offer  the  wildest  conjecture. 

"  Reason's  spell  might  not  disclose 

The  gracious  birth  to  come." 

But  here  Revelation  comes  to  our  aid  and  teaches  us 
that  "  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  "  in  hope 
of  a  glorious  regeneration.  It  teaches  us  that  the  broken 
link  has  been  restored  and  the  unending  progression  is  to 

i  Advanced  Text  Book  of  Geology,  by  David  Page,  F.G.S. 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  163 

• 

be  resumed.  This  is  finely  shown  in  the  Hulsean  Lectures 
of  Dean  Trench :  "  The  Heaven  which  had  disappeared 
from  the  earth  since  the  third  chapter  of  Genesis,  reappears 
again  in  visible  manifestation,  in  the  latest  chapters  of  the 
Revelation.  The  tree  of  life,  whereof  there  were  but  faint 
reminiscences  in  all  the  intermediate  time,  again  stands  by 
the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  and  again  there  is  no  more 
curse.  Even  the  very  differences  of  the  forms  under  which 
the  heavenly  kingdom  reappears  are  deeply  characteristic, 
marking  as  they  do,  not  merely  all  that  is  won  back,  but  won 
back  in  a  more  glorious  shape  than  that  in  which  it  was 
lost,  because  won  back  in  the  Son.  It  is  no  longer  Paradise, 
but  the  New  Jerusalem — no  longer  the  garden^  but  now 
the  city  of  God,  which  is  on  earth.  The  change  is  full  of 
meaning ;  no  longer  the  garden,  free,  spontaneous  and  un- 
labored, even  as  man's  blessedness  in  the  state  of  a  first  in- 
nocence would  have  been ;  •  but  the  city,  costlier  indeed, 
more  stately,  more  glorious,  but  at  the  same  time,  the  result 
of  toil,  of  labor,  of  pains — reared  into  a  nobler  and  more 
abiding  habitation,  yet  with  stones  which,  after  the  pattern 
of  the  "  elect  corner  stone,"  were  each  in  its  time  laborious- 
ly hewn  and  painfully  squared  for  the  places  which  they 
fill."  Such  the  prospect  to  which  the  eye  of  faith  looks 

forward, 

— "  At  return  of  Him,  the  Woman's  Seed, 
Last  in  the  clouds,  from  heaven  to  be  revealed 
In  glory  of  the  Father,  to  dissolve 
Satan  with  his  perverted  world,  then  raise 
From  the  conflagrant  mass,  purged  and  refined, 
New  heavens,  new  earth,  ages  of  endless  date, 
Founded  in  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  love, 
T*  bring  forth  fruits,  joy,  and  eternal  bliss." 

Modern  science  has  delighted  to  unfold  the  wonderful 
adaptation  of  natural  laws  and  objects  to  each  other,  to  the 
happiness  of  the  animal  creation  and  to  the  use  and  service 
of  man.  Everything,  it  has  been  shown,  serves  an  end. 


164  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

Throughout  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  there  is  a 
wonderful  series  of  special  adjustments  irresistibly  sugges- 
tive of  a  designing,  infinite  Intelligence.    Thus  the  atmos- 
phere is  essential  to  the  respiration,  without  which  no  indi- 
vidual of  either  kingdom  can  prolong  its  life.     It  furnishes 
oxygen  to  animals,  carbon  to  vegetables.     Had  it  been 
constituted  of  other  gases,  neither  kingdom  could  have 
existed.     It  is  also  the  vehicle  for  the  conveyance  of  water 
from  the  ocean  to  the  land.     For  the  earth  to  receive  its 
supply  of  ram,  it  is  necessary  that  the  water  rise  in  vapor 
from  the  ocean  as  well  as  from  the  land,  be  diffused  over 
the  surface  of  the  continents,  and  again  descend  from  the 
atmosphere  in  its  liquid  condition.     The  tendency  of  water 
to  constant  evaporation  supplies  the  air  with   moisture. 
The  variations  of  temperature  and  of  electrical  condition 
again  condense  the  vapor  and  precipitate  it  in  the  form  of 
rain  or  dew.     These  and  numberless  other  arrangements 
and  adaptations  are  not  only  exquisitely  contrived  in  them- 
selves, but  serve  to  make  the  earth  a  fitting  habitation  for 
man.    This  deduction  of  science  is  a  principle  entirely  famil- 
iar to  the  inspired  writers.     While  they  recognize  God  as 
the  great  end  of  all  things,  by  whom  and  for  whose  pleasure 
they  are  and  were  created,  they  fail  not  to  point  out  the 
subordinate  purposes  of  wisdom  and  benevolence  which 
they  subserve.     They  tell  us  that  the  tempest  is  ordered 
and  the  clouds  arranged  by  wisdom,  to  give  water  to  the 
wilderness  where  no  man  is,  to  cause  the  bud  of  the  tender 
herb  to  shoojb  forth.     They  tell  us  how  perfectly  God  has 
fitted  the  various  animal  tribes  to  their  several  localities. 
And  finally  they  represent  man  as  the  chief  created  being 
for  whom  this  earth  has  been  prepared  and  designed.     To 
"  replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it "  was  the  commission 
with  which  he  was  invested  in  the  hour  of  his  creation.    In 
these  words  we  have  another  instance  of  the  expansive 
power  of  the  language  of  the  Bible  which  has  already  been 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  165 

illustrated.  Their  full  import  could  not  be  understood, 
until  the  facts  respecting  man  and  nature  to  which  they 
refer  were  brought  to  light.  "What  the  earth  is,  and 
what  man  is — that  the  one  is  a  compact  globe  under  the 
dominion  of  uniform  laws,  and  that  the^other,  by  his  pow- 
ers, mental  and  physical,  his  capacity  of  knowledge,  inven- 
tion, construction  and  execution,  is  equal  to  the  task  of  ex- 
ploring and  understanding  the  material  world,  and  of  mas- 
tering and  transforming  its  various  substances  and  forces 
from  their  natural  employments  to  the  service  of  his  own 
superior  nature — are  facts  that  could  not  even  be  thought 
of  till  they  were  brought  before  our  eyes.  Now,  however, 
man's  conquests  have  been  carried  so  far,  that  society  has 
become  aware  of  the  end  to  which  all  the  separate  lines  of 
progress  are  •  steadily  tending.  The  prophecy  of  Moses  is 
fulfilling  ;  man  is  subduing  the  earth  ;  the  earth  is  placing 
herself  under  the  feet  of  man.  What  the  great  Hebrew 
saw  afar  off,  from  that  mount  of  God  to  which  he  was  lifted 
up  three  thousand  years  ago,  is  present  with  us  and  plain 
to  cur  senses.  Restored  by  the  second  Adam  to  the  powers 
lost  and  the  rights  forfeited  by  the  first,  the  human  race  is 
taking  possession  of  the  dominion  given  to  it  by  God  in 
Paradise.  This  is  the  end  to  which  all  science  and  all  art, 
all  the  labor  and  all  the  thought  of  men  in  all  ages  and  in 
all  places,  have  been,  and  are  still  steadily  and  unconscious- 
ly contributing ;  the  predicted  end,  toward  the  achieve- 
ment of  which  not  the  least  efficient  laborers  have  been 
some  of  those  very  sons  of  science,  who  have  laughed  to 
scorn  both  the  prophet  and  his  inspirer."  1 

Another  principle,  the  truth  and  importance  of  which 
have  but  recently  been  distinctly  recognized  by  the  philo- 
sophic student  of  nature,  though  in  all  ages  it  has  more  or 
less  dimly  dawned  upon  the  minds  of  profound  thinkers,  is 
the  law  of  type  or  pattern.  It  is  now  understood  that  as 

1  "  Nuggets  from  the  Oldest  Diggings."    Edinburgh.    Constable  &  Co. 


166  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE    TO   THE   BIBLE. 

in  the  production  of  human  works  of  design,  the  skilful 
artist  keeps  in  view  some  pattern,  style  or  order,  according 
to  which  the  whole  is  arranged,  and  the  mutual  relation  of 
the  parts  adjusted,  so  is  it  in"  the  works  of  the  Almighty. 
In  the  kingdoms  of  vegetable  and  animal  nature,  we  find 
the  same  idea  exhibited  and  carried  out.  Numerous  as  are 
their  orders  and  varieties,  there  are  a  few  leading  types  of 
structure,  under  which  they  may  all  be  arranged.  Thus  in 
respect  to  the  vertebrate  skeleton,  or  the  bony  framework 
of  ail  tliat  class  of  animal  forms  that  have  a  backbone,  as 
distinguished  from,  shell  fish  and  the  other  creatures  where 
the  hard  skeleton  surrounds  the  fleshy  and  soft  parts,  it  has 
been  shown  that  all  these  animals,  from  the  fish  and  reptile 
up  to  man,  are  made  on  one  pattern,  varied  to  suit  their 
different  peculiarities ;  and  that  a  fundamental  or  general 
skeleton  can  be  assigned  as  a  point  of  departure  for  the 
whole.  Man,  the  highest  of  the  vertebrates,  is  thus  the 
archetype  representing  and  including  all  the  lower  and 
earlier  members  of  the  vertebrate  type.  "All  his  parts 
and  organs,"  says  Professor  Owen,  "had  been  already 
sketched  out  in  anticipation  in  the  inferior  animals,"  a  phil- 
osophic deduction  which  strikingly  illustrates  the  declara- 
tion of  the  inspired  Psalmist :  "  In  thy  book  were  all  my 
members  written,  which  in  continuance  were  fashioned, 
when,  as  yet,  there  were  none  of  them."  This  great  prin- 
ciple is,  moreover,  plainly  implied  and  illustrated  in  the 
whole  order  of  creation,  as  set  forth  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,  where  we  have  specific  type  in  the  production  of 
plants  and  animals  after  their  kinds  or  species,  each  rising 
step  a  prophecy  of  something  nobler  yet  to  come.  As 
thence  deduced,  it  has  been  thus  expressed  by  Coleridge, 
and  embellished  with  the  felicitous  touches  of  genius:  "Let 
us  carry  ourselves  back  in  spirit  to  the  mysterious  week, 
to  the  teeming  work-days  of  the  Creator ;  as  they  rose  in 
vision  before  the  eye  of  the  inspired  historian  of  '  the  gen- 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  167 

erations  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  in  the  days  that  the 
Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens.'  And  who 
that  hath  watched  their  ways  with  an  understanding  heart, 
could  contemplate  the  filial  and  loyal  bee  :  the  home-build- 
ing, wedded  and  divorceless  swallow;  and  above  all,  the 
manifoldly  intelligent  ant  tribes,  with  their  commonwealths 
and  confederacies,  their  warriors  and  miners,  the  husband- 
folk  that  fold  in  their  tiny  flocks  on  the  honeyed  leaf,  and 
the  virgin  sisters  with  the  holy  instincts  of  maternal  love, 
detached,  and  in  selfless  purity,  and  not  say  to  himself,  Behold 
the  shadow  of  approaching  humanity,  the  sun  arising  from 
behind,  in  the  kindling  morn  of  the  creation !  "  1  As  the  glo- 
ries of  that  morn  unfold,  there  arises  from  under  the  Divine 
hand,  and  stands  erect,  a  being  formed  in  the  very  image 
of  the  Creator,  in  whom  all  those  mute  prophecies  that  had 
gone  before  found  a  wondrous  fulfilment. 
"  From  harmony  to  harmony, 
Through  all  the  compass  of  the  notes  it  ran, 
T-he  diapason  closing  full  in  Man." — DRYDEN. 

But  when  man  being  in  honor  abode  not  in  it — when 
the  image  of  God  was  defaced  and  broken,  and  creation's 
crown  fallen  dishonored  to  the  dust,  what  then  can  Science 
teach  us?  Here,  again  the  Bible  comes  to  our  aid  and 
directs  our  thoughts  to  a  far  more  glorious  ideal  of  human- 
ity. Not  only  does  it  harmonize  with  the  teaching  of 
Science,  that  before  the  creation  of  the  first  man,  all  nature 
was  preconfigured  to  him  and  a  mute  prophecy  of  .what 
he  would  be,  but  where  Science  can  teach  us  nothing,  it 
introduces  us  into  a  new  world  of  wonders.  It  teaches  us 
how  "from  the  time  of  the  Fall  everything  symbolized 
and  supposed  the  coming  of  the  second  man.  Everything 
assumed  a  position  pointing,  preconfigured  to  him.  The 
first  sinner  himself;  why  is  he  not  destroyed  ?  why  kept  in 
being?  Another  Adam  is  coming  to  expiate  the  guilt 
1  Coleridge's  Aids  to  Keflection.  Aph.  xxxvi. 


168  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

and  remedy  the  evil.  His  sinful  posterity — I  see  them 
rapidly  increase  in  numbers,  but  more  rapidly  in  guilt ; 
why,  when  punishment  overtakes  them,  is  it  always  arrest- 
ed in  its  course,  always  partial  in  its  infliction  ?  A  second 
man  is  on  the  way  to  endure  and  exhaust  it  for  them. 
Sinai  is  kindled  and  the  law  proclaimed ;  but  why  is  this, 
when  man  has  made  himself  notorious  chiefly  as  its  trans- 
gressor ?  Another  is  expected  to  fulfil  it.  I  pass  into  the 
land  of  Canaan  and  find  it  cleared  of  its  ancient  heathen- 
ism, and  planted  over  with  types  and  symbols ;  who  is  to 
be  the  anti-type  of  all  these  figures,  the  substance  of  all 
these  shadows  ?  I  pass  into  the  temple,  but  everything  I 
see  is  pointing  to  the  future  ;  here  is  an  altar,  but  where  is 
the  sacrifice?  for  'the  blood  of  bulls  and.  goats  cannot 
take  away  sin ; '  here  is  a  sanctuary,  but  the  entrance  is 
closed,  the  veil '  is  down ;  and  worshippers,  but  they  are  all 
in  the  attitude  of  unsatisfied  expectation.  And  here  on 
Zion  is  an  empty  throne.  Everything  appears  unfinished 
and  waiting."  1  "  Far  off  His  coming  shone  "  through  a 
long  processional  train  of  objects  and  events  and  typical 
persons  like  Moses  and  David  and  the  high  priests  of  Israel, 
until  in  the  fulness  of  time,  "  God  sent  forth  his  Son,"  in 
the  form  of  God  and  equal  with  God,  and  yet  "  found  in 
fashion  as  a  man,"  in  the  "  body  which  had  been  prepared 
for  him,"  the  glorious  Archetype  of  redeemed  humanity. 
"  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth  earthy ;  the  second  man  is 
the  Lord  from  heaven."  And  have  we  not  here  more  than 
an  intimation  that  the  unity  of  the  Divine  plan  which  Science 
teaches  us  has  been  preserved  through  the  remote  ages 
past,  will  remain  unbroken  in  the  future,  though  carried 
out  to  a  more  glorious  ideal  ?  "  The  advent  of  man,  simply 
as  such,  was  the  great  event  prefigured  during  the  old 
geologic  ages.  The  advent  of  that  divine  man, '  who  hath 
abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,' 

3  "  The  Second  Adam,"  by  Dr.  John  Harris. 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  169 

was  the  great  event  prefigured  during  the  historic  ages. 
It  is  these  two  grand  events,  equally  portions  of  one  sublime 
scheme,  originated  when  God  took  counsel  with  himself  in 
the  depths  of  eternity,  that  bind  together  past,  present,  and 
future — the  geologic  with  the  Patriarchal,  the  Mosaic,  and 
the  Christian  ages,  and  altogether  with  that  new  heavens 
and  new  earth,  the  last  of  many  creations,  in  which  there 
shall  be  no  more  death  nor  curse,  but  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it,  and  His  servants  shall  serve 
Him."  1 

"  But  still  in  One,  whose  soul,  aloof  from  wrong, 

Was  fill'd  with  earnest  unpolluted  good, 
Resounds  thy  voice  an  undiscordant  song, 
And  tells  Thy  will  as  at  the  first  it  stood. 

"  Thy  word  fulfill'd  was  He,  forever  shown,^ 

To  man  the  living  Archetype  of  Life, 
In  whose  embodied  light  our  spirits  own 

A  certain  hope — a  rest  secure  from  strife." — STERLING. 

The  examination  we  have  thus  given  has,  we  trust,  made 
it  clear  that,  as  it  respects  physical  science,  Revelation 
has  no  reason  to  fear  the  light ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
the  brilliant  trophies  which  the  human  mind  in  these  recent 
ages  has  won  from  the  outward  world,  have  been  triumphs 
for  the  Bible.  Has  Astronomy  been  invoked  to  aid  in  its 
overthrow  ?  The  very  stars  in  their  courses  have  fought 
against  the  infidel  attempt.  Has  Geology  been  summoned 
to  enter  the  field  against  it  ?  The  earth  has  literally  "  dis- 
closed her  dead  "  to  attest  the  truth  of  Moses,  and  to  silence 
the  cavil  of  the  rationalist  who  would  banish  the  Creator 
from  his  works.  In  every  instance  where  they  have  come 
in  contact,  God's  works  have  verified  his  word. 

Apart  from  the  hopes  with  which  that  Word  inspires 
the  believing  heart,  of  what  permanent  value  are  the 
splendid  achievements  of  science  to  man  ?  Viewed  in  the 

»  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,  p.  216. 
8 


170  TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

light  of  his  threescore  years  and  ten,  are  they  not  almost 
as  evanescent  as  the  palace  of  the  Arabian  enchanter? 
And  how  utterly  do  they  fail  to  meet  the  yearning  wants 
of  the  soul !  They  cannot  soothe  a  troubled  conscience,  or 
lift  the  burden  of  remorse  from  an  aching  heart.  Truly 
has  the  world's  favorite  poet  said  that 

"  Knowledge  is  not  happiness  ;  and  science 
But  an  exchange  of  ignorance  for  that 
Which  is  another  kind  of  ignorance." — MANFRED. 

"  Thousands  of  years  ago,  as  one  of  the  most  ancient  of 
the  holy  writings  tells  us,  the  question  was  asked  :  l  Where 
shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  and  where  is  the  place  of  under- 
standing?' and  in  many  works  that  have  been  written 
since,  men  have  tried  in  one  way  or  another  to  answer  it. 
The  thoughtful  patriarch  who  proposed  it,  sought  in  vain 
from  all  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  his  time  a  reply 
that  would  give  peace  to  his  restless  spirit.  And  if  we 
turn  to  the  more  mature  science  of  our  own  day,  and  re- 
peat the  question:  Whence  then  cometh  wisdom,  and 
where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ?  what  is  the  answer  ? 
Even  as  it  was  ages  ago.  The  geologist  drills  and  bores 
through  stratum  after  stratum,  and  digs  and  delves  far 
4  deeper  than  plummet  ever  sounded,'  only  to  return  and 
tell  that  '  the  Depth  saith,  It  is  not  in  me.'  The  voyager 
covers  the  sea  with  ships.  With  sail,  and  paddle-wheel, 
and  Archimedes'  screw,  they  speed  north  and  south,  and 
east  and  west,  and  round  about  the  pendent  globe.  Many 
run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  increases.  What  the  foam- 
crested  waves  will  not  tell,  the  abyss  may  reveal ;  and  with 
net,  and  dredge,  and  diving-bell,  the  'dark  unfathomed 
caves  of  ocean '  are  searched  through,  and  gazed  into,  and 
4  gems  of  purest  ray,'  and  monsters  who  never  saw  the  sun, 
are  brought  into  the  '  light  of  common  day.'  But,  above 
all  the  stir  and  strife  of  man's  endeavor,  the  murmuring 


PHYSICAL   SCIENCE.  171 

billows  lift  their  voices,  and  l  the  Sea  saith,  It  is  not  with 
me.'  The  chemist  gathers  together  every  object  which 
has  shape,  or  weight,  or  volume,  living  or  dead,  and  with 
fire,  and  furnace,  and  potent  agent,  and  electric  battery, 
tests  and  assays  it.  But  when  '  victorious  analysis'  has 
done  its  best,  he  replies,  '  It  cannot  be  valued  with  the 
gold  of  Ophir,  with  the  precious  onyx  or  the  sapphire. 
The  gold  and  the  crystal  cannot  equal  it.  The  price  of 
wisdom  is  above  rubies.'  The  naturalist  wanders  through 
the  pathless  forests  of  far  distant  lands,  and  with  pain  and 
toil  grows  familiar  with  the  habits  of  everything  that  lives; 
but  after  he  has  gone  the  round  of  all  creation  in  search 
of  wisdom,  he  answers  with  mournful  aspect,  *  It  is  hid 
from  the  eyes  of  all  living,  and  kept  secret  from  the  fowls 
of  the  air.'  The  anatomist  makes  the  writhing  animal 
agonize  under  his  torturing  hand,  and  slays  it,  that  per- 
chance in  the  page  of  death  the  mystery  of  life  and  of  wis- 
dom may  be  found  written  ;  but  he  will  venture  in  reply 
to  say  no  more  than  that  '  Destruction  and  Death  say,  W.Q 
have  heard  the  sound  thereof  with  our  ears.' 

"  But  while  all  the  oracles  of  science  are  silent  on  this 
great  question,  lo !  through  the  thick  darkness  a  ray  of 
light  descends,  and  a  voice,  solemn  but  benignant,  pro- 
claims to  us  as  it  did  to  the  first  anxious  seeker  after  Truth, 
*  The  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom ;  and  to  depart  from 
evil  is  understanding.' 1 

"  To  have  my  understanding  opened  to  my  own  nature, 
origin,  and  destiny  ;  to  know  that  I  am  alien  from  perfect 
good ;  to  tremble  before  the  consequences  of  such  an  alien- 
ation ;  but  at  the  same  time  to  have  arrived  at  a  clear  con- 
viction of  the  immortal  properties  of  that  accursed  and 
self-accusing  spirit — this  is  knowledge,  this  is  truth.  To 
have  brought  home  to  my  understanding  and  more  to  my 
heart,  that  this  perfect  good  which  alone  is  God,  has  been 
1  British  Quarterly  Review. 


172  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

reconciled  in  the  mysterious  process  of  assuming  and  sacri- 
ficing itself  for  the  imperfect  and  spotted  nature  that  is 
within  me, — this  is  love  ;  finite  indeed,  but  responding  to 
infinite  love ;  and  what  is  truth  and  love  together,  but  the 
religion  of  the  cross  ?  The  lowliest  of  the  sons  of  men  is 
capable  of  this  ;  the  burning  seraph  of  no  more.  All  other 
science — the  science  of  this  earth — must  pale  before  it, 
because  all  else  may  die  ;  this  never.  Those  brilliant  fires 
which  light  up  yonder  sky,  and  utter  mystic  music  revolv- 
ing in  their  spheres,  as  day  unto  day  uttereth  speech  and 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge,  shall,  in  the  progress 
of  ages  vanish  and  be  stricken  from  the  creation  of  God. 
With  them  this  globe,  and  all  that  is  material,  must  one 
day  be  dissolved.  Where  then  shall  live  the  science  born 
of  matter  and  of  earth?  That  only  portion  will  remain, 
which  has  so  operated  on  the  immortal  mind  in  this  por- 
tion of  its  existence,  as  to  prepare  and  fit  it  for  a  better, 
happier,  and  endless  state  beyond  the  grave."  l 

"  Welcome,  dear  book,  soul's  Joy  and  food  !    The  feast 

Of  Spirits  ;  Heav'n  extracted  lyes  in  thee, 
Thou  art  life's  Charter,  the  Dove's  spotless  nest 
Where  souls  are  hatch'd  unto  Eternitie. 

**  In  thee  the  hidden  stone,  the  Manna  lies ; 

Thou  art  the  great  Elixir  rare  and  Choice  ; 
The  Key  that  opens  to  all  Mysteries, 

The  Word  in  Characters,  God  in  the  Voice." 

HENRY  V  AFGHAN. 

1  Lecture  on  Science  and  Religion,  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Mason,  D.D. 


CHAPTEE   IY. 

THE   UNITY   OF  THE   HUMAN  EACE. 

IN  passing  from  the  Physical  to  the  Historical  sciences, 
our  attention  is  naturally  first  arrested  by  a  subject  which 
is  related  perhaps  equally  to  both,  and  which  has  of  late 
years  been  the  source  of  the  most  persistent  assaults  against 
the  Bible. 

The  peculiarities  of  form  and  color  which  are  now  found 
among  the  different  human  races,  are  irreconcilable,  it  has 
been  alleged,  with  the  identity  of  ancestral  origin  claimed 
by  Moses  for  all  the  tribes  and  families  of  men.  Instead 
of  a  common  descent  from  a  single  pair,  it  has  been  argued 
from  scientific  considerations,  that  several  pairs  of  human 
creatures  were  either  created  by  Almighty  power,  or  came 
up  into  humanity  from  some  lower  order  of  being ;  and 
that  from  these,  occupying  different  localities  from  one  an- 
other on  the  earth's  surface,  must  the  diverse  races  of  man- 
kind have  descended.  "  The  negro  at  least "  (we  are  told) 
"  is  a  distinct  race,  and  must  have  had  a  separate  origin. 
Negroes  cannot  have  sprung  from  the  same  stock  as  the 
white  man !  »  A  celebrated  Professor  of  Natural  History 
remarks:  "Men  were  primitively  located  in  the  various 
parts  of  the  world  they  inhabit,  and  they  arose  everywhere 
in  those  harmonious  proportions  with  other  living  beings, 
which  would  at  once  secure  their  preservation,  and  con- 
tribute to  their  welfare."  He  also  affirms  that  the  Bible 
professes  to  give  "  the  history  of  the  Jews ; "  and  by  a 


174  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

strange  oversight,  ventures  to  assert  that  "nowhere  the 
colored  races,  as  such,  are  even  alluded  to ; "  while  he  chal- 
lenges those  who  maintain  that  mankind  originated  from  a 
single  pair,  to  "  quote  a  single  passage  in  the  whole  Scrip- 
tures, pointing  at  those  physical  differences,  which  may  be 
adduced  as  evidence  that  the  sacred  writers  regarded  them 
as  descended  from  a  common  stock." 

Could  these  startling  assertions  be  substantiated,  a  fatal 
blow  would  be  struck  at  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 
If  they  are  true,  the  whole  of  the  Bible  history  must  be 
surrendered.  They  would  destroy  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
and  thereby  render  worthless  the  inspired  account  of  his 
ruin  and  remedy.  They  would  falsify  the  Bible  explanation 
of  the  entrance  of  sin  and  death  and  deny  the  universah'ty 
of  that  atonement,  which  proclaims  that  "  as  in  Adam  all 
die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive." 

But,  fortunately,  the  greater  weight  of  scientific  author- 
ity is  still  on  the  side  of  the  Bible,  while,  from  unexpected 
sources,  strongly  corroborative  testimony  has  been  obtained. 

We  know  from  an  investigation  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  from  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  human  frame, 
that  all  the  varieties  of  the  race,  numerous  as  they  are, 
possess  the  same  physical  properties.  In  the  structure  of 
his  body,  and  in  tha  physical  organization  which  distinguish 
him  from  every  other  species  of  animals,  man  is  the  same 
being  in  China  and  South  America,  on  the  shores  of  the 
Polar  Sea,  and  on  the  burning  sands  of  Africa.  "  Change 
his  condition ;  transplant  him  from  his  natural  soil  and 
climate  ;  take  him  in  the  wilds  of  the  forest,  or  under  the 
culture  of  civilized  and  polished  life ;  and  he  has  every- 
where the  characteristics  which  designate  the  same  species. 
These  characteristics  are  obvious,  striking  and  permanent, 
even  to  the  number  of  teeth  and  bones,  the  number  and 
arrangement  of  the  muscles,  and  the  digestive,  circulatory, 
secretory,  and  respiratory  organs.  There  is  no  difference  in 


i 
THE    UNITY    OF   THE    HUMAN  KACE.  175 

these  particulars  which  has  as  yet  been  detected  among  the 
different  races ;  there  is  the  same  uniformity  in  the  white 
and  the  black,  the  Mongolian,  the  Malay,  and  the  Ameri- 
can. They  are 'all  omnivorous,  and  capable  of  living  on  all 
kinds  of  food,  and  of  inhabiting  all  climates  ;  while  all  have 
the  same  period  of  gestation,  the  same  slow  growth,  are 
subject  to  the  same  diseases,  possess  the  same  average  lon- 
gevity, and  in  every  shade  of  amalgamation,  produce  a 
fertile  offspring." 

And  not  only  is  there  this  physical  identity ;  but  the 
moral  and  intellectual  constitution  of  the  different  races  is 
everywhere  the  same.  Whether  we  search  the  page  of 
history  sacred  or  profane,  back  to  the  remotest  times,  or 
traverse  countries  savage  or  civilized,  heathen  or  Christian, 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  though  in  different  degrees  of 
development  and  cultivation,  we  ever  find  the  sam'e  won- 
drous capacities,  the  same  universal  lineaments  of  the  human 
soul,  which  distinguish  man  from  the  beasts  that  perish. 

By  collection  of  numerous  interesting  facts  illustrating 
this  remarkable  uniformity  in  the  conditions  of  species 
which  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  tribes  and  races  of  mankind, 
under  all  the  peculiarities  and  varieties  of  form  and  color, 
Dr.  Prichard,  in  his  great  work  on  the  Natural  History  of 
Man,  has  constructed  a  powerful  and  conclusive  argument 
for  the  derivation  of  the  whole  human  species  from  one  stock. 
If  the  unity  of  the  race  is  not  to  be  made  out  genealogically, 
because  profane  history  does  not  ascend  so  high  as  to  meet 
the  historical  narrative  of  Moses,  in  reference  to  Gentile 
nations,  he  demonstrates  that  unity  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
essential  to  the  nature  of  man.  Agreeing  with  Buffon  and 
Cuvier,  to  define  species  as  "  a  constant  succession  of  indi- 
viduals capable  of  reproducing  'each  other,"  he  goes  on  to 
prove  that  there  is  a  law,  prevailing  alike  iu  the  vegetable 
and  animal  creation,  which  renders  the  perpetuation  of 
hybrids,  so  as  to  produce  new  and  intermediate  species,  im- 


176  TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

possible.  The  facts  adduced  lead,  with  the  strongest  force 
of  analogical  reasoning,  to  the  conclusion  that,  as  the  various 
tribes  of  men  may,  by  intermarriage,  perpetuate  their  race, 
they  belong  to  the  same  species.  Additional  light  is  thrown 
on  the  subject  by  his  careful  analysis  of  collected  evidence 
on  the  nature  and  origin  of  varieties.  In  answer  to  the 
great  question,  How  could  such  various  nations  and  tribes 
as  are  now  existing  among  men,  have  all  sprung  from  the 
same  stock,  he  proves  by  an  inductive  appeal  to  facts,  that 
sporadic  or  accidental  varieties  may  arise  in  one  race,  tend- 
ing to  produce  in  it  the  characteristics  of  another ;  that  these 
varieties  may  be  perpetuated  ;  and  that  food,  climate,  em- 
ployment and  other  secondary  causes,  account  for  the 
existing  varieties  of  the  human  race  and  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  those  varieties.  And  he  comes  to  the  conclusion, 
that  there  are  no  permanent  lines  of  demarcation  separating 
the  different  tribes  or  nations  ;  that  there  is  scarcely  an  in- 
stance in  which  the  actual  transition  cannot  be  proven  to 
have  taken  place ;  and  that  there  is  every  reason  to  infer, 
quite  irrespectively  of  the  Scripture  testimony,  that  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  are  descended  from  common  parents, 
and  that  at  no  very  distant  period. 

No  fact  of  science  can,  indeed,  be  considered  as  more 
certain,  than  that  man,  and  not  only  man,  but  the  inferior 
animals,  acquire  certain  changes  of  color,  hair  and  form, 
when  removed  from  one  climate  or  locality  to  another,  or 
when  subjected  to  any  great  change  in  manner  or  habits  of 
life.  "  Whether,"  says  another  writer,  "  the  external  con^ 
dition  of  these  changes  be  the  chemical  solar  rays ;  the  alti- 
tude or  depression  of  the  general  level ;  the  difference  of 
geological  formations ;  the  varying  agencies  of  magnetism 
and  electricity ;  atmospheric  peculiarities ;  miasmatic  ex- 
halations from  vegetable  or  mineral  matter ;  difference  of 
soils ;  proximity  to  the  ocean ;  variety  of  food,  habits  of 
life  and  exposure — all  of  which  perhaps  at  times  come  iq 


THE   UNITY    OF   THE   HUMAN   KACE.  177 

play — or  other  causes  yet,  more  occult ;  there  can  be  no 
question  about  the  fact  that  such  causes  are  at  work.  The 
general  fact  is,  that  when  the  other  physical  conditions  are 
the  same,  tribes  living  nearest  the  equator,  and  level  of  the 
sea,  are  marked  with  the  darkest  skin  and  the  crispest  hair. 
Thus,  we  make  a  gradual  ascent  from  the  jetty  negro  of  the 
line  to  the  olive-colored  Arab,  the  brown  Moor,  the  swarthy 
Italian,  the  dusky  Spaniard,  the  dark-skinned  Frenchman, 
the  ruddy  Englishman,  and  the  pallid  Scandinavian."  In 
regard  to  the  duration  or  permanence  of  these  varieties,  it 
appears  to  be  a  general  fact  that  when  once  acquired,  they 
are  transmitted  through  successive  generations,  "  under  the 
influence  of  the  law  of  assimilation  between  parent  and  off- 
spring, even  though  the  causes  which  originally  determined 
the  variation  from  the  original  type  should  have  ceased  to 
operate."  l 

The  following  decisive  Historical  testimony  as  to  the 
effects  of  climatic  and  geographical  changes,  after  a  long 
continued  period,  upon  the  physical  constitution  of  man,  is 
given  by  an  eminent  writer  on  Physiology,  Dr.  W.  B.  Car- 
penter, as  the  result  of  the  researches  of  Prichard,  Latham 
and  others.  He  says  that  "  the  Magyar  race  in  Hungary, 
which  is  not  now  inferior  in  mental  or  physical  characters 
to  any  in  Europe,  is  proved  by  historical  and  philological 
evidence  to  have  been  a  branch  of  the  great  northern  Asiatic 
stock,  which  was  expelled  about  ten  centuries  since  from 
the  country  it  then  inhabited  (bordering  on  the  Uralian 
mountains),  and  in  its  turn  expelled  Slavonian  nations  from 
the  fertile  parts  of  Hungary,  which  it  has  occupied  ever 
since.  Having  thus  exchanged  their  abode,  in  the  most 
rigorous  climate  of  the  old  continent — a  wilderness  in  which 
the  Ostiaks  and  Samoiedes  pursue  the  chase  during  only 
the  mildest  season — for  one  in  the  South  of  Europe,  amid 
fertile  plains  abounding  in  rich  harvests,  the  Magyars  grad- 
1  Professor  Cabell's  "  Unity  of  the  Human  Race." 


178  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

ually  laid  aside  the  rude  and  sav/ige  habits  which  they  are 
recorded  to  have  brought  with  them,  and  adopted  a  more 
settled  mode  of  life.  In  the  course  of  a  thousand  years, 
their  type  of  cranial  formation  has  been  changed  from  the 
pyramidal  (or  Mongol)  to  the  elliptical  (or  Caucasian) ;  and 
they  have  become  a  handsome  people,  with  fine  stature  and 
regular  European  features,  with  just  enough  of  the  Tartar 
cast  of  countenance,  in  some  instances,  to  recall  their  origin 
to  mind.  Here  it  may  be  said  that  the  intermixture  of  the 
conquering  with  the  conquered  race  has  had  a  great  share 
in  bringing  about  this  change ;  but  the  Magyars  pride 
themselves  greatly  on  the  purity  of  their  descent ;  and  the 
small  infusion  of  Slavonic  blood  which  may  have  taken 
place  from  time  to  time,  is  by  no  means  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  complete  change  of  type  which  now  manifests  itself. 
The  women  of  pure  Magyar  race  are  said  by  good  judges 
to  be  singularly  beautiful,  far  surpassing  either  German 
or  Slavonian  females.  A  similar  modification,  but  less  in 
degree,  appears  to  have  taken  place  among  the  Finnish 
tribes  of  Scandinavia.  These  may  be  almost  certainly 
affirmed  to  have  had  the  same  origin  with  the  Lapps  ;  but 
whilst  the  latter  retain  (although  inhabiting  Europe)  the 
nomadic  habits  of  their  Mongolian  ancestors,  the  former 
have  adopted  a  much  more  settled  mode  of  life,  and  have 
made  considerable  advances  in  'civilization.  And  thus  we 
have  in  the  Lapps,  Finns  and  Magyars,  three  nations  or 
tribes,  of  whose  descent  from  a  common  stock  no  reason- 
able doubt  can  be  entertained,  and  which  yet  exhibit  the 
most  marked  differences  in  cranial  characters,  and  also  in 
general  conformation,  the  Magyars  being  tall  and  well 
made,  as  the  Lapps  are  short  and  uncouth." 

The  observations  of  Bishop  Heber  in  India,  are  in  har- 
mony with  the  above  conclusions.  That  country,  he  says, 
"has  been  always,  and  long  before  the  Europeans  came 
hither,  a  favorite  theatre  for  adventurers  from  Persia, 


THE   UNITY   OF   THE    HUMAN   RACE.  179 

Greece,  Tartary,  Turkey  and  Arabia,  all  white  men,  and 
all  in  their  turn  possessing  themselves  of  wealth  and  power. 
These  circumstances  must  have  greatly  contributed  to  make 
a  fair  complexion  fashionable.  It  is  remarkable,  however, 
to  observe  how  surely  all  these  classes  of  men  in  a  few  gen- 
erations, even  without  any  intermarriage  with  the  Hindoos, 
assume  the  deep  olive  tint,  little  less  dark  than  a  Negro, 
which  seems  natural  to  the  climate.  The  Portuguese  na- 
tives form  unions  among  themselves  alone,  or  if  they  can, 
with  Europeans.  Yet  the  Portuguese  have,  during  a  three 
hundred  years'  residence  in  India,  become  as  black  as 
Kaffirs.  Surely  this  goes  far  to  disprove  the  assertion, 
which  is  sometimes  made,  that  climate  alone  is  insufficient 
to  account  for  the  difference  between  the  Negro  and  the 
European.  It  is  true  that  in  the  Negro  are  other  peculi- 
arities which  the  Indian  has  not,  and  to  which  the  Portu- 
guese colonist  shows  no  symptom  of  approximation,  and 
which  undoubtedly  do  not  appear  to  follow  so  naturally 
from  the  climate,  as  that  swarthiness  of  complexion  which 
is  the  sole  distinction  between  the  Hindoo  and  the  Euro- 
pean. But  if  heat  produces  one  change,  other  peculiarities 
of  climate  may  produce  other  and  additional  changes,  and 
when  such  peculiarities  have  3,000  or  4,000  years  to  operate 
in,  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  any  limits  to  their  power.  .  .  .  Thus, 
while  hardships,  additional  exposure,  a  greater  degree  of 
heat,  and  other  circumstances  with  which  we  are  unac- 
quainted, may  have  deteriorated  the  Hindoo  into  a  Negro, 
opposite  causes  may  have  changed  him  into  -  the  progres- 
sively lighter  tints  of  the  Chinese,  the  Persian,  the  Turk, 
the  Russian,  and  the  Englishman." 

The  researches  of  travellers  in  Africa  corroborate  the 
same  view.  The  Rev.  John  Campbell,  who  some  years 
ago  travelled  on  a  missionary  exploring  tour  several  hun- 
dred miles  north  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  remarks  that 
the  complexion  of  the  inhabitants  assumed  a  deeper  hue — 


180  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO    THE   BIBLE. 

uniformly  becoming  darker,  till  it  became  quite  black  as 
he  approached  the  equator.  It  is  also  a  well  ascertained 
fact  that  there  is  a  colony  of  Jews  at  Cochin,  upon  the 
coast  of  Malabar,  who  are  now  as  black  as  the  other  Mala- 
barians,  who  are  hardly  a  shade  lighter  than  the  people  of 
Guinea,  Benin,  or  Angola. 

That  the  legitimate  deductions  of  science  tend  to  cor- 
roborate the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  the  human 
race,  we  have  the  distinguished  authority  of  Baron  Hum- 
boldt.  "  Whilst  attention  was  exclusively  directed  to  the 
extremes  of  color  and  form,"  says  that  profound  student  of 
nature,  "  the  result  of  the  first  vivid  impressions  derived  from 
the  senses,  was  a  tendency  to  view  these  differences  as  char- 
acteristics, not  of  mere  varieties,  but  of  originally  distinct 
species.  The  permanence  of  certain  types,  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  opposite  influences,  especially  of  climate,  appeared 
to  favor  this  view,  notwithstanding  the  shortness  of  the  time 
to  which  the  historical  evidence  applied ;  but,  in  my  opin- 
ion, more  powerful  reasons  lend  their  weight  to  the  other 
side  of  the  question,  and  corroborate  the  unity  of  the  human 
race.  I  refer  to  the  many  intermediate  gradations  of  the 
tint  of  the  skin  and  the  form  of  the  skull,  which  have  been 
made  known  to  us  by  the  rapid  progress  of  geographical 
discoveries  in  modern  times ;  to  the  analogies  derived  from 
the  history  of  varieties  in  animals,  both  domesticated  and 
wild ;  and  to  the  positive  obsen^ations  collected  respecting 
the  limits  of  fertility  in  hybrids.  The  greater  part  of  the 
supposed  contrasts  to  which  so  much  weight  was  formerly 
assigned,  have  disappeared  before  the  laborious  investiga- 
tions of  Tiedemann  on  the  brain  of  negroes  and  of  Euro- 
peans, and  the  anatomical  researches  of  Vrolik  and  Weber 
on  the  form  of  the  pelvis.  When  we  take  a  general  view 
of  the  dark-colored  African  nations,  on  which  the  work 
of  Prichard  has  thrown  so  much  light,  and  when  we  com- 
pare them  with  the  natives  of  the  Australian  Islands,  and 


THE    UNITY    OP   THE   HUMAN   EACE.  181 

with  the  Papuans  and  Alfourans,  we  see  that  a  black  tint 
of  skin,  woolly  hair  and  negro  features  are  by  no  means 
associated."  .  .  .  "Mankind  are  therefore  distributed  in 
varieties,  which  we  are  often  accustomed  to  designate  by 
the  somewhat  vague  appellation  of  races." * 

Thus  it  appears  that  according  to  the  principles  ad- 
mitted by  the  most  eminent  physiologists  and  naturalists, 
whether  friendly  or  not  to  Christianity  and  the  Bible,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  natural  differences  observable  between 
different  parts  of  the  human  race  distributed  over  the 
globe,  which  is  incompatible  with  the  Scripture  statement 
which  claims  for  all  these  parts  a  common  origin. "  Simple 
diversity  within  limits  hitherto  reached  cannot  be  claimed 
as  proving  an  original  diversity  of  races. 

An  attempt  has  been  made,  however,  to  evade  this 
conclusion.  The  objectors,  under  the  pressure  of  the  facts 
and  arguments  brought  against  their  theory,  now  generally 
admit  that  notwithstanding  the  varieties  at  present  exist- 
ing among  the  several  tribes  and  nations  of  the  earth,  all 
races  may  have  sprung  from  an  original  stock,  if  we  allow 
a  sufficient  duration  to  have  elapsed  for  the  causes  of 
change  in  operation  to  produce  such  results.  But  they 
contend  that  the  time  in  which  the  earth  was  repeopled 
after  the  flood,  according  to  the  reckoning  of  the  Bible 
Chronology,  falls  very  far  short  of  meeting  the  require- 
ments of  the  case.  It  is  claimed  that  on  the  monuments 

1  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  i,  p.  351.  As  to  the  value  of  Dr.  Morton's 
observations  in  support  of  the  theory  of  original  diversity  of  races,  the  emi- 
nent philosopher,  Sir  "William  Hamilton,  makes  this  observation :  "  What 
first  strikes  me  in  Dr.  Morton's  Tables,  completely  invalidates  his  conclu- 
sions— he  has  not  distinguished  male  from  female  crania.  Now,  as  the 
female  encephalos  is,  on  an  average,  some  four  ounces  Troy  less  than  the 
male,  it  is  impossible  to  compare  national  skulls  with  national  skulls,  in 
respect  of  their  capacity,  unless  we  compare  male  with  male,  female  with 
female  heads,  or  at  least,  know  how  many  of  either  sex  go  to  make  up  the 
national  complement."  Extract  from  Sir  W.  Hamilton's  Lectures  on  Meta- 
physics.— Appendix  ii.  (c). 


182  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

of  Egypt  there  are  pictorial  delineations  of  the  Negro, 
Egyptian  and  Asiatic,  executed  as  far  back  as  the  age  of 
Thothmes  III,  fifteen  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  in 
which  the  peculiarities  of  race  in  form,  color  and  hair,  are 
as  perfectly  distinct  as  they  are  now.  Such  marked  national 
diversities  could  not,  say  the  objectors,  have  been  produced 
in  so  short  an  interval  of  time  as  the  850  years  which  had 
elapsed  between  the  Deluge  and  the  reign  of  that  monarch, 
supposed  to  synchronize  with  the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites, 
if  all  the  races  had  their  origin  from  one  man — the  patri- 
arch Noah.  Nothing  short  of  a  miracle,  it  is  urged,  could, 
during  that  time,  have  effected  such  a  commutation,,  which 
the  subsequent  experience  of  thirty  centuries  has  proven 
to  be  a  physical  impossibility. 

This  objection  has  at^first  sight  a  formidable  appear- 
ance ;  but  upon  examination,  the  difficulty  soon  loses  its 
dimensions.  Let  it  be  granted  that  a  miracle  was  neces- 
sary to  effect  the  change  into  different  races  from  one,  yet 
who  can  affirm  that  the  required  miracle  was  not  wrought  ? 
In  the  brief  record  of  the  earliest  times  given  in  Genesis, 
there  is  a  statement  by  which  this  very  difficulty  is  met 
and  amply  provided  for.  "We  are  there  informed  that  when 
the  descendants  of  Noah  had  become  sufficiently  numerous 
to  commence  the  occupation  of  the  different  portions  of 
the  earth,  there  was  a  direct  intervention  of  the  Almighty 
to  "confound  the  language"  of  men,  and  hence  necessitate 
that  result.  When  by  supernatural  power  this  change 
was  wrought,  may  not  the  same  agency  have  been  em- 
ployed to  effect  such  diversity  in  the  appearance  and  struc- 
ture of  the  different  branches  of  one  human  family,  as  to 
adapt  them  to  the  diversified  localities,  climates  and  con- 
ditions they  were  destined  to  occupy  ?  This  is  an  hypo- 
thesis which  can  be  regarded  as  untenable,  only  by  those 
who  reject  the  possibility  of  a  miracle,  an  objection  which 
has  already  been  answered.  To  a  believer  in  Revelation 


THE   UNITY    OP  THE   HUMAN   KACE.  183 

and  the  Divine  Omnipotence,  it  satisfactorily  accounts  for 
all  the  phenomena  presented  in  the  varying  races  of  man- 
kind without  doing  violence  to  a  single  passage  or  a  soli- 
tary word  of  Holy  Writ. 

Yet  apart  from  a  Divine  intervention  to  produce  this 
i result,  there  are  other  considerations  which  will  go  far  to 
obviate,  if  they  do  not  entirely  remove  the  difficulty.  The 
objection  is  based  upon  the  presumption  that  the  rate  of 
change  in  man's  physical  condition,  is  the  same  now  that  it 
\vas  in  those  early  patriarchal  ages.  But  instances  are  not 
wanting  even  now  of  remarkable  peculiarities  of  form  and 
structure  which  have  been  propagated  for  several  genera- 
tions. It  is  said  that  certain  reigning  families  of  Europe 
can  readily  be  distinguished  by  singularities  of  feature 
which  have  marked  them  for  centuries.  And  it  is  quite 
conceivable  that  in  those  primitive  times,  physiological 
changes  might  take  place  much  more  rapidly  than  they 
have  done  since.  It  must  be  granted  that  there  is  a  strik- 
ing contrast  in  those  early  paintings  appealed  to  by  the 
objectors,  between  the  portraiture  of  the  red  Egyptian  and 
that  of  the  jet-black  Negro, — yet  let  this  be  taken  with  the 
fact  that  on  the  borders  of  the  Red  Sea  tribes  are  to  be 
found  constituting  a  series  of  links  between  the  two,  and 
therefore  pointing  to  a  common  origin.  And  if  the  negro 
be  regarded  as  a  wide  departure  from  the  Caucasian  or 
primitive  type  of  man,  it  appears  to  be  a  law  of  human 
nature  that  deterioration  should  take  place  much  more  rap- 
idly than  restoration  or  improvement.  Moreover,  it  has 
been  ascertained  that  color  is  an  uncertain  mark  of  origin 
and  descent.  The  offspring  of  European  and  Hindoo  pa- 
rents may  be  either  white  or  colored  ;  and  if  the  children 
be  white,  the  grandchildren  may  be  colored,  showing  that 
as  it  respects  the  transmission  of  color,  there  is  an  apparent 
want  of  all  law.  And  although  the  earth  was  repeopled  by 
the  descendants  of  one  man,  there  were  three  fathers  of  the 


184  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

race,  and  they  or  their  wives  may  have  possessed  some  of 
those  marked  features  which  distinguish  their  descendants 
— Ham  of  the  African,  Japhet  of  the  European,  Shem  of  the 
Asiatic.  Noah  is  not,  therefore,  the  only  starting  point  of 
the  renovated  world,  and  national  characteristics  of  form 
and  feature  may  be  traced  back  to  the  centuries  antecedent 
to  the  deluge. 

But  there  is  an  attempt  to  justify  this  anti-scriptural 
theory  by  an  appeal  to  Scripture  itself,  which  demands  a 
passing  notice.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of  Genesis  we  read, 
"  And  Cain  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  and 

dwelt  in  the  land  of  Nod and  he  builded  a  city 

and  called  the  name  of  the  city  after  his  son  Enoch." 
Hence  it  has  been  inferred  that  there  must  have  been  men 
to  form  this  city ;  whereas  now  that  Abel  was  dead,  Cain 
and  his  son,  as  far  as  Scripture  acquaints  us,  were  the  sole 
descendants  of  Adam.  Upon  this  flimsy  basis,  it  has  been 
sought  to  people  the  land  of  Nod.  with  descendants  of 
another  race  distinct  from  Adam,  in  the  face  of  the  plain 
and  decisive  declarations  of  the  Bible  that  "  Eve  was  the 
mother  of  all  living,"  and  that  "  God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth."  Yet  the  slightest  acquaintance  with  Scripture 
should  be  sufficient  to  teach  us  that  all  the  children  of 
Adam  are  not  mentioned  by  name,  any  more  than  of  the 
patriarchs  after  him.  In  Genesis  v.  4,  we  are  expressly  told 
that  Adam  "  begat  sons  and  daughters  ; "  but  no  daughters 
are  anywhere  named.  Between  Cain's  birth  and  Abel's 
death,  127  years  elapsed,  during  which  interval  several  sons 
and  daughters  must  have  been  born  to  our  first  parents, 
who  in  all  probability  ere  its  expiration,  became  the  pa- 
rents of  many  children  also.  In  the  "  Dissertations  "  of  the 
learned  Saurin,  there  is  a  calculation  which  makes  it  out 
that  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Abel  (which  the  writer  sup- 
poses to  have  been  .in  the  year  of  the  world  128),  there 


THE  UNITY   OF   THE   HUMAN   KACE.  185 

might  have  been  32,768  persons,  descended  from  eight 
children  of  Cain  and  Abel,  born  before  the  year  25 ;  and 
that,  adding  other  subsequent  children  of  Cain  and  Abel, 
their  children  and  children's  children,  there  might  have 
been  421,164  men  descended  from  them,  without  reckoning 
women  and  children.  Yet  without  implicitly  adopting  such 
calculations,  or  in  the  least  transcending  the  limits  of 
probability,  it  is  certain  that  Cain  and  Abel  may  have  had 
a  considerable  number  of  children  and  grandchildren  at  the 
time  indicated ;  and  allowing  for  other  possible  children  of 
Adam  and  Eve,  there  must  have  been  at  the  time  a  consid- 
erable number  of  persons  in  the  world — quite  sufficient  to 
account  for  Cain's  dread  of  being  slain  for  the  murder  of 
Abel ;  and  also  for  his  building  a  city  so  soon  after  his 
migration  from  the  paternal  roof. 

An  apparently  more  formidable  objection  than  any  of 
the  foregoing  to  the  unity  of  mankind,  is  presented  by  the 
vast  inequality  of  mental  endowment  and  capacity  which  is 
found  in  the  different  human  races.  It  would,  perhaps,  be 
difficult  to  place  this  in  a  stronger  light  than  has  been  done 
by  Dr.  Prichard.  He  says  :  "  Let  us  imagine  for  a  moment, 
n  stranger  from  another  planet  to  visit  our  globe,  and  to 
contemplate  and  compare  the  manners  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  let  him  first  witness  some  brilliant  spectacle  in  one  of 
the  highly  civilized  nations  of  Europe, — the  coronation  of  a 
monarch,  the  installation  of  St.  Louis  on  the  throne  of  his 
ancestors,  surrounded  by  an  august  assembly  of  peers  and 
barons,  and  mitred  abbots,  anointed  by  the  cruse  of  sacred 
oil,  brought  by  an  angel  to  ratify  the  divine  privilege  of 
kings  ;  let  the  same  person  be  carried  into  a  hamlet  of  Ne- 
gro land,  in  the  hour  when  the  sable,  race  recreate  them- 
selves with  dancing  and  barbarous  music ;  let  him  then  be 
transported  to  the  saline  plains,  over  which  bold  and  tawny 
Mongols  roam,  differing  but  little  in  hue  from  the  yellow 
soil  of  their  steppes,  brightened  by  the  saffron  flowers  of  the 


186  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

tulip  and  the  iris ;  let  him  be  placed  near  the  solitary  den 
of  the  Bushman,  where  the  lean  and  hungry  savage  crouches 
in  silence  like  the  beast  of  prey,  watching  with  fixed  eyes 
the  creatures  which  enter  his  pitfall,  or  the  insects  and  rep- 
tiles which  chance  brings  within  his  grasp ;  let  the  traveller 
be  carried  into  the  midst  of  an  Australian  forest,  where  the 
squalid  companions  of  kangaroos  may  be  seen  crawling  in 
procession,  in  imitation  of  quadrupeds ;  can  it  be  supposed 
that  such  a  person  would  conclude  the  various  groups  of 
beings  whom  he  had  surveyed  to  be  of  one  nature,  one 
tribe,  or  the  offspring  of  the  same  original  stock  ?  It  is 
much  more  probable  that  he  would  arrive  at  an  opposite 
conclusion." 

The  contrasts,  however,  which  are  apparently  so  irre- 
concilable with  unity  of  origin,  lie  no  deeper  than  the  sur- 
face. The  learned  author  proceeds  to  show  at  length  how 
much  more  cogent  and  convincing  is  the  proof,  that  "  the 
mind  is  the  same  in  different  countries  and  in  different 
races  of  men." 

The  result  of  his  examination  is  thus  expressed  :  "  We 
contemplate  among  all  the  diversified  tribes,  who  are  en- 
dowed with  reason  and  speech,  the  same  internal  feelings, 
appetencies,  aversions ;  the  same  inward  convictions,  the 
same  sentiments  of  subjection  to  invisible  powers,  and, 
more  or  less  fully  developed,  of  accountableness  or  respon- 
sibility to,  unseen  avengers  of  wrong  and  agents  of  retribu- 
tive justice,  from  whose  tribunal  men  cannot  even  by  death 
escape.  We  find  everywhere  the  same  susceptibility, 
though  not  always  in  the  same  degree  of  forwardness  or 
ripeness  of  improvement,  of  admitting  the  cultivation  of 
these  universal  endowments,  of  opening  the  eyes  of  the 
mind  to  the  same  clear  and  luminous  views  which  Chris- 
tianity unfolds,  of  becoming  moulded  to  the  institutions 
of  religion,  and  of  civilized  life ;  in  a  word,  the  same  inward 
and  mental  nature  is  to  be  recognized  in  all  the  races  of 


THE   UNITY   OF   THE    HUMAN   RACE.  187 

men."  "  In  the  busy  cities  of  Europe,  with  all  their  rest- 
less competitions ;  then  across  the  Atlantic,  where  the 
haunts  of  wandering  Indians  have  grown,  with  a  rapidity 
that  startles  the  mind,  into  busy  towns  and  far-spreading 
villages  of  peaceful  industry ;  amid  the  sunny  isles  of  the 
Pacific,  where  the  beauty  of  the  Creator's  works  has  stood 
in  strange  contrast  with  the  ferocity  of  man ;  in  the  throb- 
bing heart  of  populous  Africa ;  in  the  hold  of  yonder  slave- 
ship,  and  in  the  breasts  of  the  unhappy  beings  which  it 
bears  ruthlessly  away  from  liberty  and  home, — in  each  and 
all,  is  there  not  the  same  wondrous  constitution,- — the  same 
sensitive  frame, — the  same  feeling  soul  ?  Savage  or  civil- 
ized, heathen  or  Christian,  the  universal  lineaments  are  not 
to  be  mistaken  ;  it  still  is — man ! "  When  we  compare  this 
fact  with  the  established  identity  of  specific  instincts  and 
physical  endowments  of  all  the  distinct  tribes  of  mankind, 
how  can  we  resist  the  conclusion,  that  all  human  races  are 
of  one  species  and  of  one  family  ? 

Another  argument  for  the  unity  of  the  human  race  is 
to  be  found  in  a  source  of  evidence,  which  was  formerly 
claimed  by  the  sceptic  as  militating  strongly  against  it — 
viz.,  the  great  diversities  of  language  which  prevail  among 
the  different  nations  of  the  globe.  The  opponents  of  reve- 
lation have  asserted  that  the  variety  of  languages  is  so 
great,  and  their  differences  of  character  so  wide,  and 
history  is  so  far  from  furnishing  any  example  of  even  one 
new  language,  that  it  is  inconceivable  that  mankind  could 
ever  have  spoken  only  one  tongue  ;  and  they  deny  that 
"  the  fable  "  (as  they  term  it)  of  the  dispersion  on  the 
plains  of  Shinar  is  sufficient  to  explain  the  endless  and  wide 
variations  which  at  present  prevail.  The  problem  here 
presented  was  far  more  difficult  of  solution  than  any  ques- 
tions pertaining  to  Ethnology  proper  or  descriptive.  At 
first  sight  it  would  seem  impossible,  out  of  the  apparent 
chaos,  to  bring  anything  to  rebut  the  objection.  The  sub- 


188  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

ject  has,  however,  received  the  attention  of  the  most  emi- 
nent philologists,  and  the  result  of  their  labors  has  been  a 
new  science,  Comparative  Philology,  the  principles  of  which 
are  in  every  respect  accordant  with  the  statements  of  the 
Bible.  The  discoveries  made  in  this  direction  have,  in- 
deed, been  among  the  most  remarkable  of  the  present  age. 
It  was  soon  found,  to  the  surprise  of  those  who  had  entered 
upon  the  investigation,  that  languages  grouped  themselves 
into  families,  and  that  there  were  so  many  affinities  and  re- 
semblances among  all  of  them,  that  there  was  a  strong 
possibility  at  least  of  a  common  origin.  Referring  to  the 
conclusions  of  Humboldt,  Klaproth,  Schlegel,  Niebuhr, 
Balbi,  Pott,  Adelung  and  Vater,  Dr.  Wiseman  observes : 
"  It  was  found  that  the  Teutonic  dialects  received  consid- 
erable light  from  the  language  of  Persia ;  that  Latin  had 
remarkable  points  of  contact  with  Russian  and  the  other 
Sclavonic  idioms  ;  and  that  the  theory  of  the  Greek  verbs 
in  mi  could  not  be  well  understood  without  recourse  to 
their  parallels  in  Sanscrit  or  Hindoo  Grammar.  It  was 
demonstrated  that  one  great  speech,  essentially  so  called, 
pervaded  a  considerable  portion  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and 
stretching  across  in  a  broad  sweep  from  Ceylon  to  Iceland, 
united  in  a  bond  of  language  nations  possessing  the  most 
dissimilar  institutions,  and  bearing  but  a  slight  resemblance 
in  physiognomy  and  color.  This  family  has  received  the 
name  of  Indo  Germanic,  or  Indo  European.  Its  great 
members  are  the  Sanscrit  and  Persian,  ancient  and  modern ; 
Teutonic  with  its  various  dialects ;  Sclavonian,  Greek  and 
Latin,  accompanied  by  numerous  derivatives ;  and  to  these 
must  now  be  added  the  Celtic  dialects."  Further  research- 
es have  not  only  confirmed  these  conclusions,  but  have 
disclosed  wider  coincidences.  And  the  crowning  result 
has  been  that  the  learned  Klaproth,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  modern  philologists,  says,  with  a  confidence  which  his 
vast  attainments  will  excuse  and  justify,  that  he  flatters 


THE   UNITY   OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE.  189 

himself  that  "  in  his  works,  the  universal  affinity  of  lan- 
guages is  placed  in  so  strong  a  light,  that  it  must  be 
considered  as  completely  demonstrated."  "  This,"  he  adds, 
"  does  not  appear  explicable  on  any  other  hypothesis  than 
that  of  admitting  fragments  of  a  primary  language  yet 
to  exist."  "  It  is  only  out  of  the  tombs  of  dead  languages 
that  new  languages  arise,  like  new  towns,  built  on  the  ruins 
of  ancient  cities.  The  bricks  with  which  the  modern  city 
of  Baghdad  is  built  on  the  borders  of  the  Tigris,  bear  all, 
as  Colonel  Rawlinson  teUs  us,  the  cuneiform  legend  of  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, stamped  upon  them,  for  they  had  been  taken 
from  the  ruins  of  ancient  cities  built  by  this  Assyrian  mon- 
arch. In  the  same  way,  if  we  examine  the  structure  of 
modern  dialects,  we  shall  find  that  each  word  bears  still 
the  unmistakable  stamp  of  an  older  language  whose  de- 
cayed fragments  have  furnished  the  materials  for  a  new 
structure." 

The  result  to  which  the  discoveries  of  Comparative 
Philology  point,  is  thus  forcibly  stated  by  one  of  its  most 
eminent  and  successful  investigators,  Dr.  Max  Muller : 
"The  evidence  of  language  is  irrefragable,  and  it  is  the 
only  evidence  worth  listening  to,  with  regard  to  ante -his- 
torical periods.  It  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  to 
discover  any  traces  of  relationship  between  the  swarthy 
nations  of  India  and  their  conquerors,  whether  Alexander 
or  Clive,  but  for  the  testimony  borne  by  language.  What 
authority  would  have  been  strong  enough  to  persuade  the 
Grecian  army  that  their  gods  and  hero  ancestors  were  the 
same  as  those  of  King  Porus,  or  to  convince  the  English 
soldier  that  the  same  dark  blood  was  running  in  his  veins 
and  in  those  of  the  dark  Bengalee  ?  And  yet  there  is  not 
an  English  jury  nowadays  which,  after  examining  the 
hoary  documents  of  language,  would  reject  the  claim  of  a 
common  descent  and  a  legitimate  relationship  between 
Hindu,  Greek  and  Teuton.  Many  words  still  live  in  India 


190  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE   BIBLE. 

and  in  England  that  have  witnessed  the  first  separation  of 
the  northern  and  southern  members  of  the  Arian  family ; 
and  these  are  witnesses  not  to  be  shaken  by  any  cross- 
examination.  The  terms  for  God,  for  house,  for  father, 
mother,  son,  daughter,  for  dog  and  cow,  for  heart  and 
tears,  for  axe  and  tree — identical  in  all  the  European 
idioms — are  like  the  watch-words  of  soldiers.  We  chal- 
lenge the  seeming  stranger  ;  and  whether  he  answer  with 
the  lips  of  a  Greek,  a  German,  or  an  Indian,  we  recognize 
him  as  one  of  ourselves.  Though  the  historian  may  shake 
his  head,  though  the  physiologist,  may  doubt,  and  the  poet 
scorn  the  idea,  all  must  yield  before  the  fact  furnished  by 
language." 

Thus  as  the  "  testimony  of  the  rocks  "  has  verified  the 
statements  of  revelation,  so  have  the  "  fossil  remains "  of 
the  different  languages  of  the  earth  been  found  to  bear 
witness  to  the  common  origin  of  the  nations  speaking 
them.  For  when  it  is  considered  that  according  to  the 
laws  of  combination,  millions  of  chances  lie  against  the  ap- 
plication of  a  few  similar  unexceptionable  words  in  different 
languages  to  the  same  objects,  we  may  be  said  to  possess 
mathematical  evidence  of  the  common  origin  of  all  lan- 
guages, and  consequently  of  the  original  unity  of  all  man- 
kind. Thus  by  the  investigations  of  the  learned,  without 
in  the  least  intending  it,  the  philological  result  is  in  exact 
accordance  with  the  teachings  of  Moses,  who  says,  that 
•while  the  descendants  of  Noah  dwelt  in  the  plains  of 
Shinar  and  were  planning  the  erection  of  the  tower  of 
Babel,  "  the  whole  earth  was  of  one  language  and  of  one 
speech." 

The  following  admirable  summary  of  the  arguments 
which  assert  the  common  origin  of  mankind,  is  from  the 
able  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge.  In  his  "  dis- 
course on  the  Black  Race,"  he  says :  "  The  unity  of  the 
human  race  must  be  considered  a  fundamental  and  an  ac- 


THE  UNITY   OP  THE  HUMAN   EACE.  191 

cepted  truth.  Every  department  of  knowledge  has  been 
searched  for  evidence,  and  all  respond  with  a  uniform  testi- 
mony. The  physical  structure,  constitution,  and  habits  of 
the  race — the  mode  in  which  it  is  produced,  in  which  it 
exists,  in  which  it  perishes — everything  which  touches  its 
mere  animal  existence,  demonstrates  the  absolute  certainty, 
of  its  unity — so  that  no  other  generalization  of  physiology 
is  more  clear  and  more  sure.  Rising  one  step,  to  the  high- 
est manifestation  of  man's  physical  organization — his  use 
of  language  and  the  power  of  connected  speech — the  most 
profound  survey  of  this  most  complex  and  tedious  part  of 
knowledge,  conducts  the  inquirer  to  no  conclusion  more 
indubitable  than  that  there  is  a  common  origin,  a  common 
organization,  a  common  nature,  underlying  and  running 
through  this  endless  variety  of  a  common  power,  peculiar 
to  the  race  and  to  it  alone.  Thus  a  second  science — phi- 
lology— has  borne  its  marvellous  testimony.  Rising  one 
more  step,  and  passing  more  completely  to  a  higher  region, 
we  find  the  rational  and  moral  nature  of  men  of  every  age 
and  kindred,  absolutely  the  same — those  great  faculties  by 
which  man  alone — and  yet  by  which  every  man — perceives 
that  there  is  in  things  that  distinction  which  we  call  true 
and  false,  and  that  other  distinction  which  we  call  good  and 
evil ;  upon  which  distinctions  and  upon  which  faculties  rests 
at  last  the  moral  and  intellectual  destiny  of  the  entire  race; 
belonging  to  us  as  men,  without  which  we  are. not  men,  with 
which  we  are  the  head  of  the  visible  creation  of  God.  So 
has  a  third  science — a  science  which  treats  of  the  whole 
moral  constitution  of  man,  embracing  in  its  wide  scope 
many  subordinate  sciences — delivered  its  testimony.  If  we 
rise  another  step,  and  survey  man  as  he'is  gathered  into 
families,  and  tribes  and  nations,  with  an  endless  variety  of 
development,  we  still  behold  the  broad  foundations  of  a 
common  nature  reposing  under  all — the  grand  principles  of 
a  common  being  ruling  in  the  midst  of  all.  So  a  fourth, 


192  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

and  the  youngest  of  the  sciences — ethnology — brings  her 
tribute.  And  now,  from  this  lofty  summit,  survey  the 
whole  track  of  ages.  In  their  length  and  in  their  breadth, 
scrutinize  the  recorded  annals  of  mankind.  There  is  not 
one  page  on  which  one  fact  is  written — which  favors  the 
historical  idea  of  a  diversity  of  nature  or  origin — while  the 
whole  scope  of  human  story  involves,  assumes  and  proclaims, 
as  the  first  and  grandest  historic  truth,  the  absolute  unity 
of  the  race.  And  then  mounting  from  earth  to  heaven,  ask 
God — the  God  of  truth,  and  he  will  tell  you,  that  the 
foundation  truth  of  all  his  work  of  creation  and  of  provi- 
dence is  the  sublime  certainty  that  our  race  was  created  in 
his  own  image,  and  of  one  blood ;  and  thereupon,  when 
they  had  fallen,  he  offered  to  them  a  common  salvation, 
through  his  only  begotten  Son,  made  manifest  in  their 
common  nature. 

"  A  bond  of  common  brotherhood  unites  every  portion 
of  the  race  ;  it  is  felt  the  most  keenly  by  those  who  are 
most  exalted;  and  even  in  the  most  abject  its  weak  pulsa- 
tions will  still  live  to  attest  the  depth  of  the  truth,  that  our 
race  is  one.  It  is  in  the  life  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ 
that  this  profound  instinct  of  human  nature  finds  itself  ex- 
alted into  one  of  the  grandest  truths  of  religion,  and  in- 
vested with  the  sanction  of  heaven.  In  Him,  the  concep- 
tion of  this  universal  brotherhood, — which  nature  teaches, 
and  all  knowledge  fortifies, — becomes  a  precious,,  living 
truth." 


CHAPTER  V. 

SACRED   CHRONOLOGY. 

ALTHOUGH,  compared  with  the  antiquity  of  the  globe 
itself,  the  whole  period  of  man's  existence  upon  it  is  of 
brief  duration,  yet  to  fix  the  exact  epochs  of  his  early  his- 
tory is  a  matter  of  great,  if  not  insuperable  difficulty.  The 
learned  Scaliger  complained  that  no  two  systems  of  ancient 
Chronology  could  be  found  to  agree,  and  that  he  arose 
from  the  study  more  doubtful  than  ever.  And  though  the 
profound  genius  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  occupied  with 
investigations  of  this  subject  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
last  thirty  years  of  his  life,  he  did  not  succeed  in  settling 
the  disputed  points  in  such  a  manner  as  to  obtain  general 
acquiescence. 

The  system  of  Chronology  adopted  by  the  English 
translators  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  placed  in  the 
margin  of  our  Bibles,  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  text. 
According  to  it,  the  deluge  was  1,656  years  from  the  crea- 
tion, from  thence  to  the  birth  of  Abraham  292  years,  to 
his  leaving  Haran  134  years  more,  and  the  whole  period 
between  the  flood  and  the  birth  of  our  Lord  was  2,348 
years.  This  system  is  considered  as  open  to  grave  objec- 
tions, and  it  is  especially  urged  against  it  that  it  allows  of 
too  short  a  period  for  so  advanced  a  state  of  political  civi- 
lization as  appears  to  have  been  attained  in  the  days  of 
Abraham.  This  difficulty  is  not,  however,  so  great  as  has 
been  supposed,  for  "there  is  nothing  surprising  in  a 
9 


194  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE   BIBLE. 

high  civilization,  even  within  a  very  short  time  from  the 
deluge ;  for  the  arts  of  life,  which  flourished  in  the  ante- 
diluvian world,  would  have  been  preserved  by  those  who 
survived  the  catastrophe,  and  might  rapidly  revive  among 
their  descendants.  Rather,  it  is  surprising  that,  except  in 
Egypt,  there  should  be  so  few  traces  of  an  early  civiliza- 
tion." 1  But  we  are  not  restricted  to  the  chronology  of 
the  Hebrew  text.  There  are  valid  reasons  for  preferring 
the  Septuagint  chronology,  which  fixes  the  date  of  the 
deluge  at  B.  C.  3,159,  and  the  birth  of  Abraham  at  1,002 
years  afterward.  It  is  now,  perhaps,  the  general  opinion 
of  Biblical  scholars,  that  the  modern  Hebrew  text  has  been 
greatly  vitiated  in  the  department  of  chronology,  and 
more  especially  in  the  genealogical  tables  which  respect 
the  antediluvian  patriarchs,  as  well  as  of  the  generations 
after  the  flood.  "  The  Septuagint  version,"  says  Mr.  Raw- 
linson,  "  was  regarded  as  of  primary  authority  during  the 
first  ages  of  the  Christian  Church ;  it  is  the  version  com- 
monly quoted  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  thus,  when  it 
differs  from  the  Hebrew,  it  is  at  least  entitled  to  equal 
attention.  The  larger  chronology  of  the  Septuagint  would, 
therefore,  even  if  it  stood  alone,  have  as  good  a  claim  as 
the  shorter  one  of  the  Hebrew  text,  to  be  considered  as 
the*  chronology  of  Scripture.  It  does  not,  however,  stand 
alone.  For  the  period  between  the  flood  and  Abraham, 
the  Septuagint  has  the  support  of  another  ancient  and 
independent  version — -the  Samaritan.  The  identity  of  the 
numbers  in  these  two  versions,  it  is  difficult  to  account 
for  but  on  the  supposition  that  they  are  the  real  num- 
bers of  the  original."  And  these  numbers  deprive  the 
sceptical  objections  which  have  been  raised  on  this  point 
of  all  their  force.  If  perfect  certainty  here  were  essen- 
tially important,  doubtless  He  who  has  so  unceasingly 
watched  over  His  Word,  would  have  provided  ample  means 
1  Rawlinson's  Essay  on  the  Pentateueh. 


SACKED   CHRONOLOGY.  195 

for  our  attaining  it.  But  the  Bible  was  not  given  to  teach 
all  things  that  man  might  desire  to  know  with  certainty, 
and  as  the  literary  value  of  the  Iliad  is  not  lessened  be- 
cause scholars  have  always  disagreed  as  to  the  time  when 
Homer  flourished,  so  neither  does  it  touch  the  authority  of 
Revelation,  because  the  learned  have  not  as  yet  been  able 
to  construct  from  it  an  unchallenged  system  of  chronology. 
Still  the  antiquity  of  the  human  race  and  important 
epochs  of  early  history  must  be  regarded  as  approximately 
fixed  by  the  Bible  within  certain  limits  of  time,  and  its  autho- 
rity may  be  considered  as  in  some  degree  committed  to  their 
correctness.  Fifty  years  ago,  this  was  thought  to  be  a  vul- 
nerable point,  and  even  Christian  men  trembled  lest  some 
discovery  in  the  ruins  of  dead  empires,  should  evoke  a  past, 
the  length  of  whose  bygone  ages  would  disprove  the  sacred 
record.  Says  an  eloquent  writer  :  "  The  infidel  boasted  his 
assurance  that  every  unwound  papyrus  would  furnish  refu- 
tation. He  regretted  that  the  sibyl's  books  were  lost,  or 
they  would  have  been  unanswerable.  But  the  Egyptian 
Hieroglyphics  were  his  favorite  resource.  Here  was  a  store 
to  be  opened  up  of  arguments  against  our  religion,  a  quiver 
full  of  shafts.  The  Pyramid  was  to  be  the  monument  of 
Deism ;  the  Mummy  from  its  cerements  should  start  up  as 
its  advocate ;  ancient  Zodiacs  would  glow  anew  to  illus- 
trate it ;  and  a  sepulchral  blast,  scattering  the  hope  of  ages, 
must  sweep  from  the  cities  of  the  dead.  '  Memphis ' 
should  bury  it.  When  the  Rosetta  stone  was  found,  the 
free  thinkers  were  thrown  into  a  tumult  of  delight.  They 
could  now  extort  the  secret, — Silence  should  speak,  and 
Death  confess !  The  heart  of  the  mystery  once  more  beat ! 
The  long-imprisoned  voice  essayed  its  earliest  articulations ! 
The  first  ray  had  been  touched,  after  a  lingering  night ; 
Memnon's  statue,  and  its  lyre  awoke !  Compare  the  re- 
searches of  a  Belzoni  and  the  readings  of  a  Champollion, 
and  what  is  their  result?  The  chronology  of  Moses  is 


196  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

there  figured.  Though  the  dynasty  of  the  Pharaohs  has 
perished  and  the  line  of  the  Ptolemies  is  consumed,  yet  out 
of  these  relics  there  is  deciphered  a  demonstration  of  an 
authentic  tale  and  date,  to  which  the  scrolls  of  Hercula- 
neum  are  but  as  letters  of  yesterday,  and  the  cycles  of  Be- 
nares and  Ujjayani,  the  almanacs  of  a  few  bygone  years. 
c  The  reproach  of  Christ '  lives  through  all  these  i  treas- 
ures of  Egypt.' "  * 

The  story  of  the  attacks  which  were  made  on  the  Bible 
in  this  quarter,  and  their  entire  discomfiture,  forms  an  in- 
teresting chapter  of  Christian  Evidences. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  Astronomical 
works  and  tables  of  the  Hindoos  furnished  materials  for 
assault.  These  tables  professed  to  record  observations 
conducted  through  many  thousands  of  years.  Attempts 
were  made  to  verify  this  remote  chronology,  and  to  show 
that  there  was  internal  proof  that  the  observations  must 
have  been  made  at  the  time  specified.  One  table  in  par- 
ticular was  adduced,  the  epoch  of  which  was  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Cali-yuga  or  iron  age  of  the  Hindoo  Mythol- 
ogy, 3,102  years  before  the  Christian  era  and  more  than  700 
years  before  the  Deluge  !  A  conjunction  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  planets  is  recorded  in  the  Hindoo  books,  as  having 
then  occurred,  and  is  mentioned  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
imply  that  the  matter  was  one  of  direct  observation. 

These  claims  were  conceded  by  several  philosophers  of 
note  in  Europe  and  in  Britain ;  they  were  advocated  by 
some  of  the  leading  journals,  and  for  a  time  infidelity 
seemed  to  have  gained  a  victory.  Its  triumph,  however, 
was  short.  By  Bentley,  Delanibre,  Laplace  and  others, 
these  tables  to  which  the  Bramins  had  assigned  so  high  an 
antiquity,  were  subjected  to  more  exact  and  scientific 
scrutiny.  It  was  then  ascertained  that  the  Hindoos  had, 
ages  ago,  made  respectable  attainments  in  Astronomy,  and 
»  Hamilton's  Prize  Essay  on  Missions. 


SACKED  CHRONOLOGY.  19T 

that  the  rules  which  they  followed  in  their  calculations  were 
approximately  true,  but  that  they  were  approximately  true 
only.  By  observations  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets,  they 
had  discovered  cycles,  in  which,  after  a  long  period  of  seem- 
ing irregularities,  the  heavenly  bodies  returned  to  the  same 
relative  positions.  This  enabled  them  to  predict  before- 
hand the  occurrence  of  eclipses  and  certain  configurations 
of  the  planets ;  and  by  the  same  method  they  could  also 
retrace  the  past  and  determine  what  similar  astronomical 
phenomena  had  occurred  thousands  of  years  ago.  They 
could  thus,  if  disposed,  falsify  their  history,  and  confirm  the 
falsification  by  Astronomical  evidence,  and  as  long  as  the 
laws  which  govern  the  sidereal  motions,  were  imperfectly 
understood,  there  was  no  means  of  detecting  the  fabrica- 
tion. But  since  these  have  been  ascertained,  the  test  of 
rigid  calculation  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  Hindoo  cycles 
having  been  calculated  backward  on  insufficient  data, 
though  nearly  exact,  were  not  quite  so.  They  contained 
an  error  which  made  the  cycle  at  every  revolution  of  its 
period  when  it  was  applied  to  past  ages  more  and  more 
wrong ;  so  that,  through  the  accurate  methods  of  modern 
Astronomy,  it  has  now  been  shown  that  the  phenomena 
of  such  a  conjunction,  as  is  pretended  to  have  been  ob- 
served, could  not  have  taken  place  at  the  date  assigned,  nor 
at  any  period  near  it.  It  has.  also  been  demonstrated  on 
scientific  grounds,  upon  internal  evidence  drawn  from  the 
Table  itself,  that  higher  antiquity  cannot  be  claimed  for  it 
than  the  12th  century  of  our  era.  Upon  this  point  it  is 
sufficient  to  cite  the  explicit  testimony  of  the  eminent  as- 
tronomer Laplace,  who  cannot  be  accused  of  any  special 
veneration  for  the  Bible.  "  The  origin  of  Astronomy,"  he 
says,  "  in  Persia  and  India,  is  lost,  as  among  all  other  na- 
tions, in  the  darkness  of  their  ancient  history.  The  Indian 
tables  suppose  a  very  advanced  state  of  Astronomy ;  but 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  can  claim  no  very 


198  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

high  antiquity."  He  adds,  as  the  result  of  his  own  exami- 
nation, that  "  they  were  not  grounded  on  any  true  observa- 
tion." It  has  also  been  proved  that  "  the  Surya  Siddhanta," 
which  the  Hindoos  consider  as  their  most  ancient  Astro- 
nomical treatise,  and  pretend  to  have  been  revealed  to  their 
nation  more  than  two  millions  of  years  ago,  must  have  been 
composed  within  the  750  years  last  past.  It  is,  indeed, 
considered  by  scholars  as  more  than  probable  that  the 
Astronomy  of  the  Hindoos  was  wholly  derived  from  the 
Greeks  who  were  colonized  in  Bactria  by  the  conquests  of 
Alexander.  The  coincidence  between  it  and  the  Greek 
Astronomy  is,  at  all  events,  both  remarkable  and  suspi- 
cious. Thus,  the  days  of  the  week  are  seven  in  number, 
and  named  after  the  seven  planets ;  while  they  follow  in 
the  same  order  as  they  do  in  the  Greek.  The  ecliptic  is 
divided  as  among  the  Greeks  into  twelve  signs,  with  the 
same  names,  emblems,  and  arrangement ;  and  the  signs  are 
also  divided  into  thirty  degrees.  As  these  matters  are 
purely  arbitrary,  they  cannot  but  have  had  the  same  source. 
The  confirmation,  therefore,  which  the  Astronomical  labors 
of  the  Hindoos  were  supposed  to  lend  to  the  fabulous  na- 
tional antiquity  claimed  by  the  Bramins,  and  the  objection 
to  the  Chronology  of  the  Bible  from  that  source,  are  shown 
to  be  baseless  and  void. 

Simultaneously  with  the  foregoing  objection,  a  similar 
difficulty  was  discovered  by  French  infidel  writers  in  the 
historical  records  of  China  and  India.  Long  lists  of  kings 
were  produced,  with  dynasty  upon  dynasty  of  reigning 
families,  extending  back,  it  was  claimed,  for  ages  beyond 
the  period  which  the  Scriptures  assign  for  the  creation  of 
man.  The  authenticity  of  these  lists  being  assumed ;  here, 
it  was  thought,  an  objection  had  at  length  been  found 
against  the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures,  which  could  not 
be  overcome.  For  a  time  Infidelity  triumphed  and  the 
friends  of  the  Bible  were  alarmed.  But  the  result  showed 


SACEED   CHRONOLOGY.  199 

that  the  triumph  was  premature  and  the  alarm  groundless. 
Subsequent  researches  of  the  learned  into  the  history  and 
literature  of  China,  have  clearly  shown  that  such  preten- 
sions to  incalculable  antiquity  are  as  unfounded  as  they  are 
extravagant.  The  eminent  missionary  Gutzlaff,  who  had 
probably  better  opportunities  than  any  other  foreigner  has 
possessed  for  obtaining  the  truth  on  the  subject,  says,  in 
his  "  Sketch  of  Chinese  History  " :  "  Not  only  is  the  fabu- 
lous part  of  Chinese  History  very  uncertain,  but  even  the 
first  two  dynasties,  Hea  and  Shang,  labor  under  great  diffi- 
culties, which  have  never  been  entirely  removed.  We 
must  in  fact  date  the  authentic  history  of  China  from  Con- 
fucius, 550  years  B.  C.,  and  consider  the  duration  of  the 
preceding  period  as  uncertain.  Chinese  ancient  astronomy 
has  been  celebrated  by  many ;  but  if  we  suppose  their  cal- 
culations to  have  been  correct,  the  ancient  Chinese,  who 
lived,  according  to  their  historians,  four  thousand  years 
ago,  greatly  surpassed  their  posterity  of  the  present  day, 
who,  after  so  much  instruction  from  foreigners,  still  betray 
a  childish  ignorance  on  many  essential  points  of  this  diffi- 
cult science.  Confucius  evidently  labors  to  refer  the  origin 
of  his  doctrines  (which  either  originated  with  himself  or 
were  transmitted  to  him  by  tradition)  to  the  remotest  an- 
tiquity, for  the  purpose  of  inspiring  his  countrymen  with 
veneration  for  them.  In  order  to  effect  this,  he  had  to 
create  for  his  nation  an  authentic  history  out  of  the  mate- 
rials furnished  by  tradition.  As  there  were  no  regular 
annals,  or  any  celebrated  historiographer  who  flourished 
before  his  era,  he  was  not  able,  notwithstanding  the  most 
laborious  researches,  to  avoid  error.  The  destruction  of 
the  greater  part  of  Chinese  books  by  Che-hwang-te,  the 
first  universal  monarch  of  China  (whose  reign  commenced 
246  years  B.  C.),  who  hoped  by  this  means  to  transmit  his 
name  to  posterity  as  the  founder  of  the  empire,  doubtless 
contributed  likewise  to  render  the  chronology  more  erro- 


200  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

neous."  It  is  remarkable  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Hin- 
doos just  considered,  the  record  of  a  similar  Astronomical 
phenomenon  has  been  found  among  what  has  been  pre- 
served of  ancient  Chinese  annals,  which  helps  us  to  fix  the 
limits  of  their  antiquity.  The  Chinese  have  ever  had  a 
custom  of  inserting  in  their  calendars  remarkable  eclipses 
or  conjunctions  of  the  planets,  together  with  the  name  of 
the  emperor  in  whose  reign  they  were  observed.  To  these 
events  they  have  also  affixed  their  own  dates.  A  singular 
coDJunction  of  the  sun,  moon  and  several  planets,  is  record- 
ed in  their  annals  as  having  taken  place  nearly  at  the  very 
commencement  of  their  history.  The  celebrated  Cassini, 
to  ascertain  the  fact,  calculated  back,  and  decisively  proved 
that  such  an  extraordinary  conjunction  actually  did  take 
place  at  China  on  the  26th  of  February,  2,012  years  before 
Christ.  This  would  take  them  back  to  something  like 
three  centuries  after  the  Deluge,  or  150  years  after  the 
confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel,  in  which  event  the  primitive 
pictorial  language  of  the  Chinese  has  not  improbably  been 
supposed  to  have  originated.  There  is  nothing  in  the  in- 
dependent testimony  of  their  historians  irreconcilable  with 
the  sacred  history,  but  rather  corroborative  of  its  state- 
ments.  China  refuses  to  contradict  the  Bible.  As  it  re- 
spects the  Hindoos  it  is  now  fully  admitted  that  they  have 
no  history.  Among  an  incalculable  number  of  books  of 
mystical  theology  and  abstruse  metaphysics,  they  do  not 
possess  a  single  volume  that  is  capable  of  affording  any 
distinct  account  of  the  various  events  of  their  national 
career.  This  remarkable  fact  is  thus  accounted  for  in  the 
learned  work  of  Mr.  Hardwick  on  "  The  Religions  of  the 
Ancient  World  " :  "  One  peculiarity  in  the  mental  condition 
of  the  Hindus  prevented  both  the  ancients  and  ourselves 
from  gaining  any  accurate  knowledge  of  their  aboriginal 
condition.  Rich  as  their  literature  is  found  to  be  in  other 
products,  it  has  never  given  birth  to  formal  histories ;  and 


SACKED   CHRONOLOGY.  201 

what  is  even  more  remarkable,  the  Hindu  scholar  is  de- 
ficient in  those  very  qualities  which  indicate  the  presence  of 
historic  consciousness.  He  gazes  with  a  cold,  if  not  con- 
temptuous spirit  on  the  varieties  of  sense  and  time ;  and 
therefore  is  disposed  to  treat  all  questions  of  chronology 
with  arrogant  indifference.  He  lives,  or  rather  dreams 
away  his  lifetime,  in  the  midst  of  intellectual  problems ;  la- 
boring hard  to  measure  the  immeasurable,  to  circumscribe 
the  absolute.  Compared  with  such  recondite  speculations 
every  incident  of  life  is  but  a  mere  ripple  upon  a  boundless 
ocean,  as  fleeting  as  phenomenal.  What  now  is,  may,  for 
aught  he  cares,  have  been  a  thousand  times  already,  and 
may  frequently  come  round  afresh.  The  object  of  his  in- 
terest is  reunion  with  Divinity,  a  re-absorption  of  the  finite 
soul  into  the  primal  source  of  being ;  and  that  destiny,  ac- 
cording to  the  various  creeds  of  Hindostan,  implies  obliv- 
iousness  in  reference  to  all  earthly  knowledge,  and  entire 
abstraction  from  all  shadows  and  illusions  of  the  past."  In 
addition  to  this,  we  have  the  high  authority  of  Forbes' 
Oriental  Memoirs  for  the  statement  that  "  The  origin  of 
the  Hindus,  like  that  of  most  other  nations  buried  in  ob- 
scurity and  lost  in  fable,  has  baffled  the  researches  of  the 
most  persevering  investigators."  The  learned  Sir  William 
Jones,  after  the  fullest  examination,  pronounced  it  as  his 
firm  conviction  that  no  established  dynasty  in  the  East,  can 
be  traced  farther  back  than  2,000  years  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  the  age  of  Abraham.  The  Pre- Adamite  and  Ante- 
diluvian dynasties  of  China  and  India  have  vanished,  there- 
fore, before  the  light  of  investigation,  like  frost-work  in  the 
sunbeam,  and  the  objection  is  heard  no  more. 

But  again  the  note  of  triumph  was  heard  in  the  infidel 
camp,  in  token  of  a  fresh  assault  upon  the  citadel  of  Divine 
truth,  the  materials  for  which  were  found  among  the  mys- 
terious and  colossal  remains  of  Egypt.  The  celebrated  sci- 
entific expedition  which,  under  the  auspices  of  the  first 
9* 


202  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

Napoleon,  explored  the  wonders  of  that  ancient  land,  met 
with  some  monuments,  which  to  them  spoke  of  times  long 
anterior  to  the  records  of  history,  whether  sacred  or  pro- 
fane. These  were  the  zodiacs  of  Esneh  and  Denderah, 
which  were  supposed  to  represent  the  state  of  the  heavens 
at  the  time  when  the  temples  in  which  they  were  found 
were  erected,  and  to  indicate  a  very  remote  antiquity. 
The  presumed  discovery  was  at  once  made  public,  as  de- 
cisive of  the  question,  and  as  assigning  a  period  to  Egyp- 
tian civilization  far  beyond  the  time  of  Abraham,  or  even 
the  deluge.  French  savans  eagerly  claimed  it  as  a  demon- 
stration that  the  statements  of  Moses  were  erroneous. 
"  M.  Jomard  proved  to  his  own  satisfaction  that  these  zodi- 
acs were  three  thousand,  and  M.  Dupuis  that  they  were,  at 
the  very 'least,  four  thousand  years  older  than  the  Christian 
era,  while  M.  Gori  would  not  abate  a  week  of  seventeen 
thousand  years."  The  discrepancies  in  their  conclusions 
proved  the  unsound  ness  of  their  theories,  and  investiga- 
tions of  learned  and  scientific  men  exposed  the  fallacy  of 
their  assumptions.  Still  the  adversaries  of  Revelation  were 
unwilling  to  acknowledge  defeat,  and  persisted  in  ascribing 
to  the  zodiacs  an  antiquity  of  more  than  six  thousand 
years.  The  apprehensions  of  the  Christian  world  from  this 
source  were,  however,  soon  relieved.  In  August,  1799,  a 
French  artillery  officer,  named  Bouchard,  belonging  to  that 
army  under  whose  protection  Denon  and  his  company  of 
savans  had  made  their  explorations,  when  digging  near 
Rosetta  in  Egypt  for  the  foundation  of  a  military  work, 
came  upon  a  huge  block  of  basalt,  marked  with  various 
strange  characters  and  hieroglyphics.  These  characters 
were  found  to  exhibit  three  inscriptions,-  in  three  different 
languages,  one  in  Greek,  another  in  hieroglyphic  or  sacred, 
and  a  third  in  the  ancient  Coptic,  called  also  enchorial  or 
demotic,  like  the  trilingual  inscription  affixed  by  Pilate  to 
the  Cross.  This  was  the  celebrated  Rosetta  stone,  now  in 


SACKED   CHRONOLOGY.  203 

the  British  Museum,  which  has  been  the  subject  of  dili- 
gent investigation  by  learned  antiquarians  of  every  nation 
in  Europe ;  and  this  stone,  under  the  ingenious  labors  of 
Doctor  Young  in  England,  and  Champollion  in  France, 
yielded,  by  a  comparison  of  the  characters  found  in  the 
different  inscriptions,  a  key  to  decipher  the  hieroglyphics 
that  covered  the  obelisks,  temples,  and  tombs  of  Egypt. 
A  small  obelisk  discovered  on  the  Isle  of  Philoe  in  the  Nile 
in  1816  by  M.  Caillaud,  containing  the  names  of  Ptolemy 
and  Cleopatra  in  the  Enchorial  and  Greek  characters,  still 
farther  aided  these  researches,  and  at  length  the  veil  of 
mystery  which  had  so  long  covered  the  monumental  re- 
mains of  the  land  of  Mizraim,  was  lifted.  That  language 
which  had  been  unknown  for  ages,  and  whose  meaning  it 
was  supposed  was  forgotten  forever,  now  disclosed  the  fact 
that  the  celebrated  zodiacs  extended  no  farther  back  than 
the  times  of  the  early  Roman  emperors.  On  the  walls  of 
the  great  temple  at  Denderah,  in  the  ceiling  of  which  the 
zodiac  or  planisphere  had  been  placed,  Champollion  read 
the  titles,  names  and  surnames  of  the  emperors  Tiberius, 
Claudius,  Nero  and  Domitian ;  and  on  the  portico  of 
Esneh,  the  zodiac  of  which  was  reputed  to  be  older  than 
that  of  Denderah,  he  read  the  imperial  names  of  Claudius 
and  Antoninus  Pius.  Consequently,  these  monuments  for 
which  Volney  and  other  infidel  literati  had  claimed  an  in- 
calculably remote  antiquity,  belong  to  that  period  when 
Egypt  was  under  the  domination  of  the  Romans,  and  they 
cannot  be  dated  earlier  than  the  first  or  second  century  of 
the  Christian  era.  As  soon  as  the  Rosetta  stone  furnished 
the  key  to  the  hieroglyphics,  the  objections  from  the  zodi- 
acs, and  the  temples  of  Egypt,  with  their  fabulous  anti- 
quity, lost  their  power  and  are  heard  no  more. 

But  it  has  been  sought  on  other  grounds  to  establish  an 
antiquity  for  Egypt  irreconcilable  with  the  Chronology  of 


204  TESTIMONY   OF  SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

the  Bible.  The  means  for  this  have  been  supplied  by  the 
fragments  of  the  Chronicles  of  Manetho,  an  Egyptian  priest 
and  historian,  who  lived  300  years  B.  C.  Though  his  state- 
ments were  once  considered  as  almost  wholly  fabulous,  he  is 
now  recognized  by  scholars  as  a  reliable  authority  as  far  as  it 
respects  his  honesty  of  intention  and  opportunities  for  infor- 
mation. His  history  has  been  lost,  but  his  dynasties  remain 
tolerably  entire.  These  appear  to  claim  a  national  exist- 
ence for  Egypt  of  nearly  30,000  years  previous  to  this  time ! 
Twenty-five  of  .these  millenniums,  however,  are  ascribed  to 
the  time  when  gods,  demi-god's  and  spirits  bore  rule  on 
earth  ;  while  the  actual  history  of  Egypt  does  not  commence 
until  Menes,  the  first  human  king,  ascended  the  throne.1 
He  is  considered  as  identical  with  Mizraim,  the  son  of 
Ham,  and  Manetho  fixes  the  date  of  his  accession,  accord- 
ing to  Lepsius,  at  3,892  B.  C. ;  while  Baron  Bunsen,  correct- 
ing Manetho  by  the  numerical  data  of  a  fragment  of  Era- 
tosthenes, places  it  at  B.  C.  3,643.  Other  authorities,  such 
as  Brugsch  and  Bockh,  following  different  methods  of 
computing  the  dynasties,  assign  that  era,  respectively,  to 
4,455  B.  C.  and  5,702  B.  C.  The  lowest  of  these  dates,  that 
of  Bunsen,  involves  a  discrepancy  with  the  Scripture 
chronology,  even  if  we  follow  the  system  of  the  Septua- 
gint.  This,  however,  is  disposed  of  by  the  statement  of 
Syncellus,  a  Byzantine  monk  of  the  ninth  century,  who 
informs  us  that  in  a  corrected  list  of  the  Egyptian  dynasties, 
fifteen  hundred  years  were  stricken  off  by  Manetho  him- 
self. The  remoter  dates  have  been  obtained  by  regarding 

1  Berosus,  a  Chaldean  writer  of  whom  Eusebius  has  preserved  some  frag- 
ments, has  a  yet  more  extravagant  Chronology.  He  undertakes  to  give  the 
annals  of  the  Medes  and  the  Chaldeans  for  upward  of  400,000  years !  But 
omitting  from  his  scheme  what  is  plainly  mythic  computation,  the  eras  of 
gods  and  demi-gods,  we  have  remaining  a  period  which  mounts  up  no  higher 
than  2,458  years  before  Christ.  If  the  accuracy  of  this  be  assumed,  it  can 
readily  be  reconciled  with  the  Septuagint  Chronology. 


SACRED   CHRONOLOGY.  205 

the  dynasties  of  Manetho  as  consecutive ;  but  later  investi- 
gations have  proved  that  several  of  them  were  in  reality 
contemporaneous  lists  of  petty  sovereigns  of  parts  of  Egypt. 
While  admitting  this,  Baron  Bunsen,  upon  a  theory  of  his 
own  founded  upon  mere  fancy,  claimed  that  the  historic 
records  of  Egypt  "reached  far  beyond  the  accession  of  Me- 
nes,  up  to  the  year  B.  C.  9,085.  But,  says  Mr.  Rawlin- 
son,  "  if  it  be  still  thought  that  the  mere  opinion  of  men 
so  well  acquainted  with  the  Egyptian  monuments,  as  Bun- 
sen  and  Lepsius,  ought  to  have  weight,  despite  the  weak- 
ness of  the  argumentative  grounds  on  which  they  rest  their 
conclusions,  let  it  be  remembered  that  others,  as  deeply 
read  in  hieroglyphic  lore,  and  as  capable  of  forming  a 
judgment,  have  come  to  conclusions  wholly  different.  Sir 
Gardner  Wilkinson  inclines  to  place  the  accession  of  Menes 
about  B.  C.  2,690,  and  Mr.  Stuart  Poole  gives  as  his  first 
year  B.  C.  2,717.  These  writers  believe  that  the  number 
of  contemporaneous  dynasties  has  been  much  underrated 
by  the  German  savans,  who  have  especially  erred  in  re- 
garding the  Theban  dynasties  as,  all  of  them,  subsequent 
to  the  Memphite.  They  consider  that  Manetho's  first  and 
third  Theban  dynasties  were  contemporary  with  his  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  Memphite  ;  that  the  first  and  second  Shep- 
herd dynasties  ruled  at  the  same  time  in  different  parts  of 
Lower  Egypt ;  and  that  the  dynasty  of  Chortes  (Manetho's 
14th)  was  contemporary  with  the  two  Shepherd  dynasties 
above  mentioned,  and  with  the  second  Theban.  They  do 
not  deny  that  their  arrangement  of  the  dynasties  is  to 
some  extent  conjectural ;  but  they  maintain  that,  while  the 
idea  of  it  was  derived  from  a  close  inspection  of  Manetho's 
lists,  it  is  also  strikingly  confirmed  by  the  monuments. 
While  names  of  such  weight  can  be  quoted  on  the  side  of 
a  moderate  Egyptian  chronology,  it  can  not  be  reasonably 
argued  that  Egyptian  records  have  disproved  the  Biblical 


200  ESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO    THE   BIBLE. 

narrative."  The  remote  antiquity  of  Egypt  is,  indeed,  in- 
disputable ;  but  this  is  perfectly  reconcilable  with  the  state- 
ments of  the  Mosaic  narrative,  which  imply  that  the 
Egyptians  had  attained  a  high  point  of  arts,  government 
and  knowledge,  when  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  was  still  leading  a  nomadic  life. 

It  should  also  here  be  noted,  that  the  high  reputation 
of  Baron  Bunsen  as  a  scholar  gave  an  authority  to  the  long 
lists  of  kings  and  dynasties  and  the  consequent  vast  antiquity 
of  Egypt,  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  had.  But, 
says  an  eminent  authority, l  "  when  we  come  to  examine  the 
researches  of  Bunsen,  we  actually  find  that  to  this  day  he 
has  never  discovered  the  true  Hieroglyphic  alphabet.  His 
whole  system  is  built  on  a  series  of  conjectures  and  assump- 
tions, which,  moreover,  he  varies  and  contorts,  without  rule 
or  order,  at  every  new  sentence." 

Another  fragment  of  antiquity  called  "the  Table  of 
Abydos,"  from  its  discovery  in  1818,  by  Mr.  William  Bankes, 
among  the  ruins  of  Abydos,  an  ancient  city  of  note  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Nile,  corroborates  the  above  conclu- 
sion. Having  been  deciphered  by  competent  scholars,  it 
was  found  to  yield  evidence  of  only  twenty-five  sovereigns 
predecessors  of  Rameses-Sesostris ;  and  allowing  to  each 
of  these  an  average  of  twenty  years,  we  shall  have  five 
hundred  years  from  the  first  king,  probably  Menes.  Now, 
if  the  great  monarch,  to  whose  honor  this  tablet  was  en- 
graven, died  about  fifteen  hundred  years  before  theJChris- 
tian  era,  a  short  time  before  the  Exodus,  we  bring  the  reign 
of  Menes  to  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the 
deluge,  a  period  when  the  descendants  of  Mizraim  the  son 
of  Ham,  would  have  become  sufficiently  powerful  to  form  a 
great  nation.  And  so  far  is  this  monument  from  confirm- 

»  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter,  the  able  author  of  "  Five  Years  in  Damascus  and 
Murray's  Hand  Book  for  Syria  and  Palestine." 


SACRED   CHRONOLOGY.  207 

ing  the  theories  built  upon  the  statements  of  Manetho, 
that,  so  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  a  witness  against  them,  and  con- 
firmatory of  the  Chronology  derived  from  sacred  history. 

But  while  infidelity  has  appealed  to  the  zodiacs  and 
hieroglyphics  of  Egyptian  temples  for  evidence  wherewith 
to  overthrow  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  a  remarkable  veri- 
fication of  the  date  of  its  most  ancient  portion  has  been 
deciphered  in  the  starry  vault  above  us. 

In  the  same  striking  chapter  of  Job,  to  which  repeated 
reference  has  already  been  made,  we  find  another  interrog- 
atory :  "  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  the  Plei- 
ades or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion  ?  Canst  thou  bring  forth 
Mazzaroth  in  his  season  or  canst  thou  guide  Arcturus  with 
his  sons  ?  "  The  rising  and  setting  of  certain  constellations 
with  the  sun,  were  to  the  ancients  marks  for  determining 
the  seasons,  *  and  it  is  known  that  the  heliacal  rising  of  the 
Pleiades  was  by  the  Egpytians  associated  with  the  spring. 
Accurate  calculations,  founded  on  the  usual  precession  of 
the  equinoxes,  have  ascertained  that  the  star  Taigette,  the 
northernmost  of  the  constellation,  was  precisely  on  the  co- 
lure  of  the  vernal  equinox  2,136  years  before  Christ.  This 
was  before  the  birth  of  Abraham  according  to  the  common 
Chronology,  and  in  his  youth,  according  to  the  Chronology 
of  Dr.  Hales.  And  consequently,  for  several  centuries 
thereafter,  in  the  same  latitude,  the  Pleiades  would  be  es- 
teemed as  the  cardinal  constellation  of  spring.  "Mazza- 
roth" designated  the  zodiac,  or  series  of  constellations 
through  which  the  sun  passes,  bringing  on  the  seasons  in 
their  annual  order.  Arcturus  was  the  pole-star,  and  his 
sons  the  stars  that  move  with  him.  Job  is  asked  if  he 
could  hinder  those  "sweet  influences"  to  which  nature 
yields  when  the  rising  of  the  Pleiades  announces  the  ap- 
proach of  spring;  or  whether  he  could  loosen  or  retard 
that  rigidity  which  contracts  and  binds  up  her  fertile 
bosom,  when  the  approach  of  winter  is  made  known  by 


208  TESTIMONY  OF  SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  appearance  of  Orion.  There  is  abundant  internal  evi- 
dence for  assigning  the  book  of  Job  to  a  very  early  period 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  the  patriarch  is  generally 
held  by  scholars  to  have  lived  not  far  from  the  time  of 
Jacob. l  As  the  calculations  of  Astronomy,  carried  back  to 
that  period,  confirm  this  conclusion,  they  assist  in  dispelling 
the  cloud  of  fabulous  antiquity  with  which  infidelity  would 
obscure  the  credibility  and  authority  of  the  Bible. 

And  not  only  in  the  heavens  above,  but  in  the  earth 
beneath,  may  evidence  be  found  to  overthrow  the  infidel 
theories  of  the  vast  antiquity  of  man. 

"  To  any  one,"  wrote  Bishop  Berkeley,  more  than  a  cen- 
tury ago,  "  who  considers  that,  on  digging  into  the  earth, 
such  quantities  of  shells  and,  in  some  places,  bones  and 
horns  of  animals,  are  found  sound  and  entire,  after  having 
lain  there  in  all  probability  some  thousands  of  years ;  it 
should  seem  probable  that  guns,  medals,  and  implements 
in  metal  or  stone  might  have  lasted  entire,  buried  under 
ground  forty  or  fifty  thousand  years,  if  the  world  had  been 
so  old.  How  comes  it  then  to  pass  that  no  remains  are 
found,  no  antiquities  of  those  numerous  ages  preceding  the 
Scripture  accounts  of  time ;  that  no  fragments  of  buildings, 
no  public  monuments,  no  intaglios,  no  cameos,  statues, 
basso-relievos,  medals,  inscriptions,  utensils,  or  artificial 
works  of  any  kind  are  ever  discovered,  which  may  bear 
testimony  to  the  existence  of  those  mighty  empires,  those 
successions  of  monarchs,  heroes,  and  demi-gods  for  so  many 
thousand  years  ?  Let  us  look  forward  and  suppose  ten  or 
twenty  thousand  years  to  come,  during  which  time  we  will 
suppose  that  plagues,  famine,  wars  and  earthquakes  shall 
have  made  great  havoc  in  the  world, — is  it  not  highly 
probable  that,  at  the  end  of  such  a  period,  pillars,  vases, 
and  statues  now  in  being,  of  granite  or  porphyry  or  jasper 
(stones  of  such  hardness  as  we  know  them  to  have  lasted 
two  thousand  years  above  ground,  without  any  consider- 


SACRED  CHKONOLOGT.  209 

able  alteration),  would  bear  record  of  these  and  past 
ages?  Or  that  some  of  our  current  coins  might  then 
be  dug  up,  or  old  walls  and  the  foundations  of  buildings 
show  themselves,  as  well  as  the  shells  and  stones  of  the 
primeval  world,  which  are  preserved  down  to  our  own 
times." 

Tip  to  a  recent  period,  this  conclusion  was  supposed  to 
be  unimpeachable  by  Geological  evidence.  The  "testi- 
mony of  the  rocks,"  as  read  by  its  most  eminent  exposi- 
tors, was,  that  if  there  be  any  fact  well  established  in  Geol- 
ogy, it  is  that  the  advent  of  man  upon  earth  can  not  be 
dated  further  back  than  about  six  thousand  years.  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  after  quoting  the  above  passage  from  Bishop 
Berkeley  with  approval,  adds  to  the  same  effect :  "  That 
many  signs  of  the  agency  of  man  would  have  lasted  at 
least  as  long  as  'the  shells  of  the  primeval  world,'  had 
our  race  been  so  ancient,  we  may  feel  as  fully  persuaded  as 
Berkeley ;  and  we  may  anticipate  with  confidence  that 
many  edifices  and  implements  of  human  workmanship,  and 
the  skeletons  of  men,  and  casts  of  the  human  form,  will 
continue  to  exist  when  a  great  part  of  the  present  moun- 
tains, continents,  and  seas  have  disappeared.  Assuming 
the  future  duration  of  the  planet  to  be  indefinitely  pro- 
tracted, we  can  foresee  no  limit  to  the  perpetuation  of 
gome  of  the  memorials  of  man."  *  This  distinguished  au- 
thor has  since  withdrawn  his  support  from  the  Scriptural 
view,  and  is  now  a  strenuous  advocate  for  an  opposite  the- 
ory. In  a  work  which  he  has  recently  published  on  the 
"  Geological  Evidence  for  the  Antiquity  of  Man,"  he  main- 
tains that  "memorials"  have  been  found,  establishing  a 
period  of  duration  for  the  past  existence  of  our  race  on 
the  earth,  so  vast,  that  even  the  extravagant  chronology  of 
Baron  Bunsen  would  be  inadequate  to  fill  it.  A  considera- 
ble amount  of  details  respecting  discoveries  of  "  flint  im» 

*  Lyell's  Princ.  of  Geol.  8th  edit.  p.  740.    See  also  pp.  144, 145,  773. 


210  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

plements "  near  Amiens  and  Abbeville,  in  France,  and  of 
human  remains  in  caves  near  Liege,  Dusseldorf,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Pyrenees,  and  in  other  places,  is  brought  forward  in 
the  volume  in  justification  of  this  hypothesis.1  It  is  alleged 
that  proofs  have  been  thus  obtained  "that  remains  of 
mammoths  occur  in  undisturbed  alluvium,  so  imbedded  with 
works  of  human  art,  and  sometimes  with  human  bones,  as 
to  admit  of  no  doubt  that  man  and  mammoths  co-existed." 
As  the  mammalian  tribes  are  supposed  to  have  been  ex- 
tinct ages  before  the  era  of  Adam,  the  inference  is  that 
the  "  popular,"  i.  e.  the  Biblical  chronology  is  altogether 
deficient  and  unreliable.  But  the  premises  from  which  it 
•is  sought  to  draw  this  conclusion  are  still  matters  of 
doubt  and  dispute  among  men  of  science.  An  able  writer 
in  Blackwood's  Magazine  [No.  540,  pp.  422-439],  has 
clearly  shown,  that  before  extreme  human  antiquity  can 
be  predicated  of  the  "  remains "  discovered  in  the  "  drift 
deposit,"  there  are  two  questions  yet  to  be  solved.  1.  Are 
they  of  the  same  age  as  the  formation  in  which  they  are 
found  ?  And  2.  Is  that  formation  itself  of  an  antiquity 
very  remote  ?  The  affirmative  of  these  questions,  he 
claims,  is  "not  proven."  And  even  granting  that  man 
was  contemporaneous  with  ancient  elephants  and  mam- 
moths no  longer  found  among  the  animal  tribes  of  our 
globe,  is  it  certain  and  beyond  doubt  that  those  gigantic 
races  did  not  live  down  to  a  much  later  period  in  the 
earth's  history,  than  has  been  hitherto  supposed?  "All 
these  are  problems  awaiting  solution.  Meanwhile,  it  would 
be  presumptuous  and  unwarrantable,  on  tke  part  of  any 
man,  to  assert  the  high  antiquity  of  our  race  upon  such 

*  As  it  respects  the  recent  discoveries  of  peat  deposits  and  Ejoeclcken 
madding  (kitchen  leavings)  in  the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  and  of  lake 
dwellings  in  Switzerland,  although,  unquestionably,  memorials  of  pre-his- 
toric  races,  it  is  conceded  that  they  furnish  no  data  to  militate  with  the 
Scripture  chronology. 


SACKED   CHRONOLOGY.  211 

slight  and  insufficient  evidence.  All  the  negative  testi- 
mony, even  of  geological  science,  omitting  these  alleged 
exceptions,  is  in  favor  of  that  comparatively  modern  epoch 
known  as  the  annus  mundi.  We  have  no  wish  to  contend 
for  any  very  strict  interpretation  of  the  Scripture  chronol- 
ogy ;  but  the  addition  of  a  few  thousand  years  would  go 
only  a  little  way  to  meet  the  hypothesis  of  those  who  con- 
tend that  these  are  human  relics  of  vast  antiquity,  while 
all  profane  as  well  as  sacred  history  utters  a  silent  but 
consistent  protest  against  an  extension  so  indefinitely  great. 
We  have  every  reason,  then,  to  suspend  our  final  judg- 
ment. If  divines  have  their  prejudices,  so  philosophers 
have  their  moments  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  it  is  only  just  that 
time  should  be  allowed  to  arbitrate  between  them."1 

On  this  subject,  it  is  believed,  that  the  great  majority 
of  scientific  men  still  accord  with  the  opinion  expressed  by 
the  eminent  Professor  Sedgwick  in  his  Discourse  on  the 
Studies  of  the  University :  "  Geology  tells  us,  out  of  its 
own  records,  that  man  has  been  but  a  few  days  a  dweller 
on  the  earth ;  for  the  traces  of  himself  and  of  his  works 
are  confined  to  the  last  monuments  of  its  history.  Inde- 
pendently of  every  written  testimony,  we  therefore  believe 
that  man,  with  all  his  powers  and  appetencies,  his  marvel- 
lous structure  and  his  fitness  for  the  world  around  him, 
was  called  into  being  within  a  few  thousand  years  of  the 
days  in  which  we  live." 

Even  the  heathen  poet,  Lucretius,  though  an  advocate 
of  the  Epicurean  hypothesis  of  the  formation  of  the  world 
by  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,  could  see  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  present  system  of  things  could  not  be  of 
unlimited  antiquity. 

1  Eclectic  Mag.  June,  18GO. 


• 


CHAPTEE  YL 

PEIMrnVE  HISTORICAL  TRADITIONS. 

THE  shadowy  uncertainty  which  the  preceding  results 
of  Chronological  research  have  shown  to  rest  upon  the 
early  history  of  the  most  ancient  nations,  naturally  sug- 
gests the  obligations  we  owe  to  the  Bible  considered  sim- 
ply as  a  record  of  the  past.  Man  is  a  being  who  looks 
both  before  and  after,  and  as  the  mind  awakens  to  the  real- 
ities of  the  scene  in-which  we  find  ourselves  placed,  the  de- 
sire is  irresistibly  excited  to  know  something  of  those  who 
have  occupied  it  before  us,  and  by  the  monuments  of  whose 
existence  and  labors  we  find  ourselves  surrounded.  "  Not 
to  know  what  happened  before  we  were  born,"  as  Cicero 
has  said,  "  is  to  remain  always  children."  "  Human  and 
mortal  though  we  are,  we  are,  nevertheless,  not  mere  in- 
sulated beings,  without  relation  to  the  past  or  future. 
Neither  the  point  of  time  nor  the  spot  of  earth,  in  which 
we  physically  live,  bounds  our  rational  and  intellectual  en- 
joyments. We  live  in  the  past  by  a  knowledge  of  its  his- 
tory, and  in  the  future  by  hope  and  anticipation.  By 
ascending  to  an  association  with  our  ancestors ;  by  con- 
templating their  example,  and  studying  their  character ;  by 
partaking  their  sentiments,  and  imbibing  their  spirit;  by 
accompanying  them  in  their  toils;  by  sympathizing  in 
their  sufferings  and  rejoicing  in  their  successes  and  their 
triumphs, — we  mingle  our  own  existence  with  theirs,  and 
seem  to  belong  to  their  age.  "We  become  their  contempo- 
raries, live  the  lives  which  they  lived,  endure  what  they 


PRIMITIVE   HISTOEICAL   TRADITIONS.  213 

endured,  and  partake  in  the  rewards  which  they  enjoyed."  * 
We  cannot  comprehend  the  part  we  are  called  to  act  our- 
selves, unless  we  know  the  character  of  those  whose  places 
we  take.  History,  therefore,  must  ever  possess  an  undying 
fascination  for  the  minds  of  men,  for  its  subject  is  the  story 
of  their  race  and  the  gradual  unfolding  of  that  mighty 
scheme  of  Providence  and  Grace,  which,  beginning  with 
the  creation  and  fall  of  man,  "  runs  onward  through  suc- 
cessive generations,  binding  together  the  past,  the  present 
and  the  future,  and  terminating,  at  last,  with  the  consum- 
mation of  all  things  earthly,  at  the  throne  of  God." 

But  while  this  interest  is  attached  to  Universal  History, 
it  is  especially  felt  with  respect  to  that  period  with  which 
the  poets  have  linked  the  legends  of  the  golden  age, — the 
world's  childhood  and  early  youth.  Those  opening  scenes 
of  our  race  have  a  charm  with  which  none  other  can  vie, 
and  every  line,  every  word,  is  eagerly  welcomed  that  bears 
their  faintest  impress.  But  were  it  not  for  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, our  knowledge  of  those  scenes  would  be  scant  indeed. 
Take  away  the  books  of  Moses,  and  the  early  history  of 
mankind  is  almost  utterly  a  blank.  But  for  them,  "  the 
patriarchs  of  the  infant  world,  with  kings,  the  powerful  of 
the  earth,  the  wise  and  good,  fair  forms  and  hoary  seers  " 
of  those  long  vanished  ages,  would  have  left  no  trace  to 
tell  us  that  they  once  had  been. 

*'  Yixere  fortes  ante  Agamemnona 
Multi ;  sed  omnes  illacrimabiles 

Urgentur  ignotique  longa 
Nocte,  carent  quia  vate  sacro." 

H&r.  Car.  L.  iv.  c.  12. 

Before  great  Agamemnon  reign'd 

Reigned  kings  as  great  as  he  and  brave, 

Whose  huge  ambition's  now  contain'd 
In  the  small  compass  of  a  grave : 

1  Daniel  Webster. 


214  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

In  endless  night  they  sleep,  unwept,  unknown : 
No  bard  had  they  to  make  all  time  their  own." 

FRANCIS'  Trandatwn. 

"  The  reptiles  that  crawled  upon  the  half  finished  sur- 
face of  our  planet  have  left  memorials  of  their  passage  en- 
during and  indelible,  but  the  line  of  march  of  mighty  con- 
querors and  their  armies  which  once  desolated  the  earth, 
has  been  utterly  obliterated."  And  so  of  ancient  empires 
and  the  primitive  seats  of  power.  Barbaric  dwellings  oc- 
cupy the  shattered  sites  of  their  vanquished  grandeur,  from 
the  scattered  symbols  of  their  old  renown  the  meaning  has 
departed,  and  the  tongue  of  gray  tradition  has  long  ceased 
to  utter  their  once  memorable  names.  Chaldea  was  the 
earliest  seat  of  science  ;  but  the  sun  of  Babylon  has  set ; 
the  golden  city  has  ceased ;  and  her  lofty  towers,  her  hang- 
ing gardens,  her  impregnable  walls,  are  but  as  the  memory 
of  a  dream.  The  populous  Nineveh  is  extinct,  and  only 
tells  the  tale  of  her  ancient  glory  in  the  ruins  which  have 
recently  been  uncovered  from  the  dust  of  ages.  The  mon- 
umental records  of  Egypt,  it  is  true,  carry  us  back  to  the 
morning  of  the  world,  and  sustain  the  traditions  of  her 
early  wisdom  and  proficiency  in  the  arts ;  but  though  the 
Hieroglyphic  key  has  drawn  from  them  highly  valuable  and 
important  confirmation  of  the  statements  of  Holy  Writ ; 
yet,  as  even  Baron  Bunsen  acknowledges,  "Egypt  has, 
properly  speaking,  no  history."  "In  those  monuments," 
says  Stanley,  and  the  same  is  true  of  recent  Assyrian  dis- 
coveries, "  the  traveller  sees  great  kings  and  mighty  deeds 
— the  father,  the  son,  and  the  children, — the  sacrifices,  the 
conquests,  the  coronations.  But  there  is  no  before  and  after, 
no  unrolling  of  a  great  drama,  no  beginning,  middle  and 
end  of  a  moral  progress,  or  even  of  a  mournful  decline." 
Phoenicia,  Tyre,  Sidon,  and  Carthage,  were  early  seats  of 
commerce  and  of  letters,  but  have  left  no  historian  to  de- 
tail their  discoveries  or  record  their  fame.  The  rock-built 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL  TRADITIONS.  215 

« 

palaces  and  temples  of  Petra,  and  the  splendid  and  exten- 
sive ruins  of  Persepolis  and  Palmyra  testify  the  skill  of 
their  architects  and  the  magnificence  of  which  they  were 
once  the  abodes ;  but  the  names  and  deeds  of  their  princes 
and  heroes,  unconsecrated  by  the  muse  of  History,  have 
faded  from  the  knowledge  of  men.  The  civilization  and 
refinement  of  the  ancient  Etruscans  have  left  no  traces 
save  in  the  painted  tombs  of  their  chiefs  and  nobles.  The 
imperishable  writings  of  Greece  and  Rome  appear  at  first 
to  present  a  torch  to  illumine  the  midnight  of  the  past,  but 
upon  examination  we  find  that  there  is  only  light  to  render 
"darkness  visible."  The  early  annals  of  Rome,  which, 
though  called  "  the  Eternal  City,"  compared  with  the  He- 
brew polity  was  but  of  yesterday,  perished  during  its  cap- 
ture by  Brennus  and  his  Gauls  ;  and  Grecian  History  be- 
yond the  Olympiads,  which  commenced  but  776  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  about  23  years  before  the  founda- 
tion of  Rome,  .is  involved  in  an  impenetrable  tissue  of  cloud 
and  fable. 

Thus,  says  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  "  Time  sadly  overcometh 
all  things,  and  is  now  dominant,  and  sitteth  on  a  sphinx, 
and  looketh  upon  Memphis  and  old  Thebes,  while  her  sister 
Oblivion  reclineth  demi-somnous  on  a  pyramid,  gloriously 
triumphing,  making  puzzles  of  Titanian  erections,  arid  turn- 
ing old  glories  into  dreams.  History  sinketh  beneath  her 
cloud.  The  traveller  as  he  paceth  amazedly  through  these 
deserts,  asketh  of  her,  who  builded  them,  but  what  it  is  he 
heareth  not." 

4  The  spider  has  woven  his  web  in  the  imperial  palace, 
And  the  owl  has  sung  her  watch  song  on  the  towers  of  Afrasiab." 

From  this  silence  of  Profane  History  respecting  the 
primitive  ages  of  mankind,  infidelity  has  drawn  the  objec- 
tion that  the  writings  of  Moses  are  corroborated  by  no  con- 
curring testimony.  To  this  assertion  of  Hume,  Dr.  Camp- 


216  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

* 

bell,  of  Aberdeen,  has  replied,  "  neither  are  they  invalidated 
by  any  contradictory  testimony ;  and  for  the  plain  reason 
that  there  is  no  human  composition  that  can  be  compared 
with  them  in  point  of  antiquity."  The  "  Father  of  history  " 
lived  more  than  a  thousand  years  posterior  to  Moses,  and 
Thucydides  has  declared  that  there  were  no  authentic  an- 
nals of  his  nation  prior  to  the  Trojan  war.  But  although 
the  Mosaic  records  are  not  corroborated  by  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  any  coeval  histories,  because  if  there  were 
any  such  histories,  they  are  not  now  extant ;  they  are  not, 
therefore,  destitute  of  all  collateral  evidence.  "In  the 
theogonies  of  Greece  and  Rome,  in  the  puranas  and  vedas 
of  the  East,  the  shasters  of  ancient  Mexico,  the  mythology 
of  Egypt,  and  the  sagas  of  the  Scalds,  are  to  be  found 
glow-worm  glimmerings  of  truth,  flickerings  of  light  among 
clouds  of  error  "  or  rather  "  shadows  of  realities  contained 
in  that  Book,  whose  shadows  themselves  are  true.  Chaos 
the  beginning  of  all  things ;  darkness  preceding  light ;  the 
spirit  of  deity  infused  into  the  mass ;  the  world  so  fashioned 
as  the  bird  comes  from  its  egg ;  man  formed  out  of  clay  and 
touched  with  the  Promethean  spark  of  Heaven ;  the  domin- 
ion he  claims  over  the  brutes ;  the  golden  age ;  the  deluge 
of  Ogyges ;  a  race  of  giants  engaged  in  warfare  with  the  god* 
and  attempting  to  scale  Olympus ;  the  descent  of  One  to 
bring  back  his  bride  from  Hades ;  the  recognition  of  a  triple 
deity,  and  of  the  power  of  sacrifice  to  free  from  sin,  and 
of  a  brighter  hope  to  fallen  man,  what  are  these  but  myth- 
ical versions  of  the  facts  and  disclosures  of  the  Bible  ? "  * 
The  learned  Faber  has  shown  that  "  the  various  systems  of 
Pagan  Idolatry  in  different  parts  of  the  world  correspond 
so  closely,  both  in  their  evident  import  and  in  numerous 
points  of  arbitrary  resemblance,  that  they  cannot  have  been 
struck  out  independently  in  the  several  countries  where 
they  have  been  established,  but  must  all  have  originated 

1  Lecture  on  Religion  and  Science,  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Mason,  D.  D. 


PEIMITIVE    HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  217 

from  some  common  source.  But  if  they  all  originated  from 
a  common  source  (he  argues),  "then  either  one  nation  must 
have  communicated  its  peculiar  theology  to  every  other 
people  in  the  way  of  peaceful  and  voluntary  imitation,  or 
that  same  nation  must  have  communicated  it  to  every  other 
people  through  the  medium  of  conquest  or  violence ;  or, 
lastly,  all  nations  must  in  the  infancy  of  the  world  have 
been  assembled  together  in  a  single  region,  and  in  a  single 
community,  must,  at  that  period  and  in  that  state  of  society, 
have  agreed  to  adopt  the  theology  in  question,  and  must 
thence,  as  from  a  common  centre,  have  carried  it  to  all 
quarters  of  the  globe.  These  are  the  only  three  modes. 
.  .  .  .  As  the  incredibility  of  the  first,  and  as  the  equal 
incredibility  and  impossibility  of  the  second,  may  be  shown 
without  much  difficulty,  the  third  alone  remains  to  be 
adopted."1 

Some  of  the  more  important  of  the  "broken  echoes 
and  memorial  fragments"  which  have  floated  down  to  us 
from  the  wreck  of  bye-gone  ages  and  have  been  collected 
by  the  labors  of  the  learned,  will  now  be  given.  Examin- 
ation of  them  will  prove*  that  they  are  strongly  corrobora- 
tive of  the  inspired  narrative. 

Thus,  the  wide  spread  tradition  of  a  primeval  chaos 
from  which  the  world  arose — the  production  of  all  living 
creatures  out  of  water  and  earth  by  the  efficiency  of  a 
supreme  Mind — the  formation  of  man  last  of  all  in  the 
image  of  God,  and  his  being  vested  with  dominion  over 
the  inferior  animals,  so  strikingly  concurs  with  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  that  Ovid,  in  whose  pages  it  is  recount- 
ed, seems  to  be  the  paraphrast  of  Moses.  (Metamorphoses, 
lib.  i.,  v.  5-86.)  This  tradition  can  be  traced  in  whole  or 
in  part  to  the  ancient  Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians, 
Hindoos,  Chinese,  Etruscans,  Greeks,  and  the  Indians  of 
America. 

1  Faber's  Origin  of  Pagan  Idolatry. 
10 


218  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

Grotius  says  that  "  the  nations  which  most  rigidly  re- 
tained ancient  customs,  reckoned  by  nights,  darkness  hav- 
ing originally  preceded  light,  as  Thales  taught  from  the 
ancients.  The  remembrance  of  the  completion  of  the  work 
of  creation  on  the  seventh  day  was  preserved  by  every  na- 
tion of  whom  any  records  or  traditions  have  come  down  to 
us.  Hesiod,  who  lived  about  nine  hundred  years  before 
the  Advent  of  Christ,  says :  "  The  seventh  day  is  holy." 
Homer,  who  sang  about  the  same  period,  and  Callimachus, 
likewise  a  Greek  poet,  who  flourished  about  seven  hundred 
years  later,  allude  to  the  seventh  day  as  holy.  Theophilus 
of  Antioch  says,  concerning  the  seventh  day,  *'  The  day 
which  all  mankind  celebrate."  Porphyry  says,' "  The  Phoe- 
nicians consecrated  one  day  in  seven  as  holy."  Lucian  re- 
marks, u  The  seventh  day  is  given  to  schoolboys  as  a  holi- 
day." Eusebius  observes,  "  Almost  all  the  philosophers  and 
poets  acknowledge  the  seventh  day  as  holy."  Clemens 
Alexandrinus  says,  "  The  Greeks  as  well  as  the  Hebrews, 
observe  the  seventh  day  as  holy."  Josephus,  the  Jewish 
historian,  says,  "  No  city  of  Greeks  or  barbarians  can  be 
found  which  does  not  acknowledge  &  seventh  day's  rest  from 
labor."  Philo  testifies,  "  The  seventh  day  is  a  festival  to 
every  nation."  It  was  found  (as  ancient  authors  testify)  in 
the  calendars  of  the  Hindus,  Egyptians,  Arabs  and  Assyri- 
ans. All  these  vestiges  unquestionably  point  to  the  insti- 
tution of  the  primeval  Sabbath  in  Paradise,  which  has  sur- 
vived the  fall  of  empires,  and  has  existed  among  all  suc- 
cessive generations,  another  proof,  in  addition  to  those 
already  given,  of  the  common  origin  of  mankind. 

From  the  Egyptians  we  have  a  tradition  that  man's  life 
at  the  beginning  was  simple  or  innocent,  and  that  his  body 
was  naked ;  hence  the  golden  age,  in  which  holiness  and 
happiness  prevailed,  and  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides  with 
its  golden  apples,  so  beautifully  sung  by  ancient  poets. 
Maimonides  has  remarked  that  the  history  of  Adam,  of 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  219 

Eve,  of  the  tree,  and  of  the  serpent,  existed  in  his  time 
among  the  idolatrous  Indians ;  and  witnesses  likewise  of 
our  own  age  (says  Grotius)  testify  that  the  same  tradition 
exists  among  the  inhabitants  of  Peru  and  of  the  Philippine 
islands,  who  derived  their  origin  from  India.  In  the  my- 
thology of  Egypt,  the  serpent  bears  an  important  character ; 
represented  in  an  upright  form,  it  entered  into  all  its  rites 
and  ceremonies.  Among  the  coins  of  Augustus  there  is  a 
remarkable  one  of  a  female  with  a  mural  crown,  a  palm 
branch  in  her  hand,  and  a  dove  by  her  side,  while  her  feet 
trample  upon  a  serpent.  Upon  a  Tyrian  coin  there  is  the 
figure  of  a  serpent  twisted  round  a  tree ;  and  upon  a  silver 
medal  found  in  one  of  the  sepulchral  monuments  of  Mex- 
ico, a  man  and  woman  are  represented  in  a  garden  with  a 
serpent  near  them.  This  is  obviously  a  picture  record  of 
the  first  pair  in  Eden,  the  serpent  and  the  fall. 

"  In  the  ancient  mysteries  of  Greece,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  people  used  to  carry  about  a  serpent,  and  were 
instructed  to  cry  out  Eva,  whereby  the  devil  seemed  to 
exult  over  the  fall  of  our  first  mother.  Even  now,  says 
Stackhouse,  in  idolatrous  nations,  there  are  evidences  of 
the  triumph  of  the  devil  under  the  form  of  a  serpent. 

"  Plutarch  says  the  great  serpent  Python  signifies  de- 
struction, and  that  serpent  Greek  mythology  represents  to 
have  been  slain  by  the  son  of  Zeus  or  Jupiter.  Porphyry 
and  others  among  the  Greeks,  speak  of  "  evil  demons," 
whose  wish  is  to  be  gods,  and  the  power  which  presides 
over  them  aspires  to  be  the  greatest  of  gods;  but  the 
Most  High,  with  a  mighty  arm,  restrains  their  machina- 
tions. 

"  In  the  Gothic  theology,  the  god  Thor,  whom  they  es- 
teem as  their  middle  divinity,  or  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  is  said  to  have  '  bruised  the  head  of  the  great  ser- 
pent with  his  mace,  but  so  severe  was  to  be  the  contest, 
that  he  himself  would  be  suffocated  with  the  floocl  of  venom 


220  TESTIMONY   OF  SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

from  the  mouth  of  the  serpent.'  What  can  this  mean  but 
the  seed  of  the  woman  bruising  the  serpent's  head,  and  the 
serpent  biting  his  heel  ? 

"  In  India,  also,  two  sculptured  figures  are  yet  extant, 
in  one  of  their  oldest  pagodas,  one  of  which  represents 
Chrishna,  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  trampling  on  the  crushed 
head  of  the  serpent,  while  the  other  exhibits  the  poisonous 
reptile  encircling  the  deity  in  its  folds  and  biting  his 
heel."  l 

And  in  the  ancient  legend  of  Pandora's  box,  on  the 
opening  of  which  by  the  hand  of  a  woman,  all  evils  spread 
throughout  the  world,  we  recognize  a  significant  emblem 
of  the  origin  of  evil ;  while  hope  at  the  bottom,  was  as  sig- 
nificant a  symbol  of  the  prophetic  promise,  that  by  the  seed 
of  the  woman,  evil  would  finally  be  destroyed. 

Grotius  farther  informs  us,  that  "  Berosus,  in  his  history 
of  the  Chaldeans,  Manetho,  in  that  of  the  Egyptians,  HOBS- 
tiseus,  Hcecateus,  Halbanicus,  in  their  histories  of  Greece, 
and  Hesiod  among  the  poets,  have  related  that  the  life  of 
those  who  were  descended  from  the  first  man  extended  to 
nearly  a  thousand  years,  which  is  the  less  incredible,  as  the 
histories  of  a  great  many  nations,  and  especially  Pausanius 
and  Philostratus  among  the  Greeks,  and  Pliny  among  the 
Romans,  relate  that  the  bodies  of  men  in  ancient  times 
were  much  larger,  as  was  found  by  opening  the  tombs. 
Catullus,  following  many  of  the  Greek  writers,  relates  that 
divine  visions  appeared  to  man  before  the  frequency  and 
enormity  of  his  offences  secluded  him  from  converse  with 
Deity  and  his  angels." 

In  his  valuable  work  on  "  the  Bible  and  the  Classics," 
already  quoted,  Bishop  Meade  says,  "  The  ancient  poets 
and  philosophers  speak  of  four  successive  ages  through 
which  the  world  passes, — the  Golden,  the  Silver,  the  Bra- 
zen, and  the  Iron, — representing  their  characters  by  the 
1  The  Bible  and  the  Classics,  by  Bishop  Meade. 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  221 

comparative  value  of  the  pure  metals.  The  last  is  the 
worst,  and  ends  in  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  the 
deluge.  But  in  many  of  the  ancient  writings  there  are 
two  series  of  such  ages,  set  forth  by  the  same  four  metals, 
— gold,  silver,  brass  and  iron.  The  facts  mentioned  show 
clearly  that  the  second  series  commenced  immediately  after 
the  flood,  with  Noah  and  his  family — as  the  first  did  with 
Adam  and  his,  immediately  after  the  creation.  That  the 
first  age  in  each  was  the  purest ;  that  each  successive  period 
was  marked  by  gradual  deterioration,  sacred  and  profane 
history  attest  most  clearly.  As  to  the  event  terminating 
the  first  series,  there  is  no  doubt.  The  deluge  was  sent  to 
purify  the  earth  from  the  deep  corruption  which  covered 
it.  The  human  race  began  anew  with  the  family  of  Noah, 
and  was  for  a  time  comparatively  pure  in  religion  and 
morals. 

Sometimes  the  ancients  confound  together  the  two 
series  of  ages,  those  before  and  those  after  the  flood,  as 
they  do  indeed  (according  to  their  doctrine  of  a  succession 
of  worlds)  Creation  and  the  Deluge,  Adam  and  his  children 
with  Noah  and  his.  We  only  state  the  general  result  of 
the  researches  of  such  men  as  Sir  William  Jones  and 
others,  in  saying  that  they  abound  with  references  to  the 
comparative  character  and  condition  of  the  different  ages. 
The  first,  as  we  have  said,  was  that  of  paradise  itself,  when 
all  things  abounded  spontaneously,  when  men  were  called 
"  the  supreme  and  happy  inhabitants  of  the  earth."  Then 
came  a  time  when  they  were  called  the  "  moderately  hap- 
py "•  inhabitants  of  the  earth  ;  and  then  a  time  when  the 
least  happy  inhabitants  of  the  earth  lived.  Then  came  the 
iron  age, — the  age  of  war,  and  lust  and  violence  and  ra- 
pine ;  of  heroes  and  giants,  of  which  Ovid  says, 

"  De  duro  est  ultima  ferro, 
Protinus  erupit  venae  pejoris  in  aevum 
Omne  nefas :  fugere  pudor  verumque  fidesque. 


222  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

Vivitur  ex  rapto.     Non  hospes  a  hospite  tutus, 

Non  socer  a  genero.     Fratrura  quoque  gratia  rara  est. 

Victa  jacet  pietas." 

"  Stubborn  iron,  the  last : 
Then  blushless  crimes,  which  all  degrees  surpast. 
All  live  by  spoil :  the  host  his  guest  betrays, — 
Sons,  fathers-in-law,— 'twixt  brethren  love  decays : 
Foiled  piety,  trod  under  foot,  expires." 

The  daring  wickedness  of  these  giants  in  sin  as  well 
as  in  stature,  has  given  rise  to  poems  in  ancient  days  called 
the  "  Wars  of  the  Titans,"  in  which  they  are  represented 
as  actually  assaulting  heaven  as  we  assault  a  stronghold 
upon  earth ;  but  there  are  circumstances  in  the  war  which 
have  led  to  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  time  and  place 
of  the  same.  Some  think  it  to  be  the  rebellion  of  the  wicked 
antediluvians,  which  led  to  their  overthrow  by  the  deluge ; 
others,  that  it  was  the  rebellion  of  the  builders  of  Babel, 
which  ended  in  the  confusion  of  language  and  their  disper- 
sion through  the  earth.  In  either  case  we  have  the  testi- 
mony of  Pagan  poets  to  two  most  important  events  in  Mo- 
saic history. 

The  tradition  of  a  deluge  has  been  found  in  every  na- 
tion from  one  extremity  of  the  globe  to  the  other ;  it 
mingles  with  the  legends  of  countries  the  most  remote ; 
and  whose  striking  diversity  of  language  would  seem  to 
have  interdicted  any  interchange  of  communication.  The 
Hindu  and  the  Mexican,  the  Greek  and  the  Roman,  all 
attest  and  acknowledge  a  penal  flood,  which  has  swept 
their  forefathers  away  and  consigned  them  to  destruction. 

The  Jewish  historian  Josephus  says,  that  "  all  the  writ- 
ers of  the  barbarian  histories  make  mention  of  the  ark  and 
of  this  flood."  He  instances  Berosus,  collector  of  the  Chal- 
dean monuments,  Hieronymus,  an  Egyptian,  who  wrote  the 
Phoenician  antiquities,  Mnaseas,  and  Nicolaus  of  Damascus. 
He  adds,  a  great  many  more  make  mention  of  the  same 


PEIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  223 

event.  Berosus,  who  was  contemporary  with  Alexander 
the  Great,  in  his  history  of  the  Babylonians,  relates  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances  in  regard  to  a  general  deluge :  "  It 
happened  in  the  reign  of  King  Xisuthrus,  who  was  the  tenth 
in  descent  from  the  first  created  man.  Saturn  advised  him 
of  the  approaching  calamity  in  a  dream.  He  instructed 
him  to  build  an  immense  ship,  to  furnish  it  with  provisions, 
and  to  enter  it  with  his  family  and  friends,  and  a  number 
of  quadrupeds  and  birds.  These  instructions  he  obeyed. 
Then  the  flood  began.  The  whole  world  perished.  When 
the  waters  began  to  abate,  Xisuthrus  sent  out  some  of  the 
birds.  They  could  find  neither  food  nor  resting  place  and 
immediately  returned.  In  a  few  days  he  sent  them  out 
again.  They  returned  with  their  feet  covered  with  mud. 
He  sent  them  out  a  third  time  and  they  returned  no  more. 
He  concluded,  from  this,  that  the  earth  was  reappearing, 
made  an  opening  in  the  side  of  his  vessel,  and  saw  that  it 
was  approaching  a  mountain  on  which  it  soon  rested.  He 
then  came  forth,  adored  the  earth,  erected  an  altar,  and 
offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  Xisuthrus  himself  having 
suddenly  disappeared,  a  voice  in  the  air  informed  his  family 
that  the  country  in  wrhich  they  were  was  Armenia,  and 
commanded  them  to  return  to  Babylon." 

The  account  given  by  the  witty  Lucian,  a  professed 
scoffer  at  all  religions,  who  lived  in  the  second  century,  is, 
perhaps,  still  more  remarkable.  In  a  treatise  entitled  "  The 
Syrian  Goddess,"  while  speaking  of  a  very  ancient  temple 
to  her  honor  at  Hierapolis,  he  remarks,  "  It  is  generally 
believed  that  this  temple  was  erected  by  Deucalion,  the 
Deucalion  in  whose  time  there  was  an  immense  mass  of 
waters."  He  proceeds  to  give  the  history  of  this  Deuca- 
lion, as  he  had  heard  it  in  Greece  from  the  Greeks  them- 
selves. The  present  race  of  men  (they  said)  was  not  the 
original  race.  That  race  entirely  perished,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Deucalion,  from  whom  the  present  inhabitants  of 


2 14  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIELE. 

the  earth,  numerous  as  they  now  are,  all  descended.  That 
former  race  were  men  of  a  contumelious  bearing,  who  per- 
petrated the  most  heinous  crimes.  They  neither  listened 
to  the  voice  of  the  suppliant,  exercised  the  rites  of  hospi- 
tality, nor  regarded  the  sanctions  of  an  oath.  They  were, 
therefore,  surprised  by  an  overwhelming  calamity.  Sud- 
denly, the  waters  burst  forth  from  the  earth,  immense  rains 
fell  from  the  skies,  the  rivers  overflowed  their  banks,  the 
ocean  discharged  its  stores  upon  the  dry  land, — there  was 
one  universal  scene  of  waters.  All  men  perished.  Deuca- 
lion alone,  preserved  for  his  justice  and  for  his  piety,  was 
left  to  repeople  the  earth.  He  placed  his  children  and  his 
wives  in  a  great  Ark,  which  he  had,  and  also  entered  it 
himself.  Then  came  to  it  by  pairs,  swine,  and  horses,  and 
lions,  and  serpents,  and  other  terrestrial  animals,  and  he  ad- 
mitted them  within  the  Ark.  There  they  remained  harm- 
less. Through  a  divine  influence  a  friendship  arose  between 
them,  and  they  all  sailed  together  in  harmony  while  the 
waters  remained  upon  the  earth.  This,  Lucian  remarks,  is 
what  the  Greeks  say  of  Deucalion.  But  the  inhabitants  of 
Hierapolis  relate  a  wonderful  event  which  subsequently 
happened.  In  their  country,  the  earth  opened  and  ab- 
sorbed all  the  water.  Deucalion  observing  it,  erected  al- 
tars, and  built  a  temple  to  Juno  over  the  chasm.  The 
chasm,  says  Lucien,  I  saw,  now  small,  and  whether  it  ever 
was  greater  I  know  not.  In  commemoration  of  this  event, 
not  only  the  priests,  but  all  Syria  and  Arabia,  twice  a  year, 
bring  water  from  the  sea  to  this  temple.  Men  go  even  from 
the  Euphrates  to  the  sea  for  this  purpose.  They  pour  it 
into  the  temple.  It  descends  into  the  chasm,  which,  though 
small,  receives  it  in  great  quantity.  This  rite,  they  say, 
was  instituted  by  Deucalion  in  memory  at  once  of  the  del- 
uge and  of  his  preservation.  Plato  believes  that  there  was 
a  universal  deluge,  which  occurred  before  the  partial  inun- 
dations celebrated  by  the  Greeks.  Plutarch,  in  a  treatise 


PRIMITIVE    HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  225 

upon  the  sagacity  of  animals,  has  this  remark  :  "The  dove 
sent  out  of  the  Ark,  it  is  said,  by  returning  gave  Deucalion 
a  sure  indication  of  the  continued  existence  of  the  storm  ; 
by  not  returning,  she  assured  him  of  restored  serenity."  A 
similar  legend  to  that  related  by  Lucian,  no  doubt  bor- 
rowed from  the  Greeks,  is  found  in  the  pages  of  the  Roman 
poet  Ovid,  who  has  adorned  it  with  the  embellishments  of 
fancy. 

Nicolaus  of  Damascus,  to  whom  Josephus  refers,  has 
this  passage :  "  There  is  a  great  mountain  in  Armenia  over 
Minyas,  called  Baris,  upon  which  it  is  reported  that  many 
who  fled  at  the  time  of  the  deluge  were  saved ;  and  that 
one  who  was  carried  in  an  Ark,  came  on  shore  upon  the 
top  of  it ;  and  that  the  remains  of  the  timber  were  a  great 
while  preserved.  This  might  be  the  man  about  whom 
Moses  the  legislator  of  the  Jews  wrote." 

With  the  foregoing  accounts,  it  will  be  interesting  to 
compare  the  ancient  Aztec  tradition  as  given  by  Humboldt. 
According  to  this,  "  Ooxcox,  or  Tezpi,  the  American  Noah, 
embarked  in  a  spacious  acalli  or  ark,  with  his  wife  and 
children,  many  animals  and  grain,  the  preservation  of  which 
was  dear  to  the  human  race.  When  the  Great  Spirit  com- 
manded the  waters  to  retire,  Tezpi  sent  forth  from  his  bark 
a  vulture.  This  bird,  nourished  by  dead  flesh,  did  not  re- 
turn, on  account  of  the  great  number  of  carcasses  which 
were  scattered  upon  the  newly-dried  earth.  Tezpi  sent 
out  other  birds,  of  which  the  humming-bird  alone  returned, 
bearing  in  its  beak  a  branch  covered  with  leaves.  After 
which  Tezpi  seeing  that  the  soil  began  to  be  covered  with 
new  verdure,  left  his  bark  near  the  mountain  of  Cothuacan." 
"  Everywhere,"  adds  Humboldt,  "  the  traces  of  a  common 
origin,  the  opinions  concerning  cosmogony,  and  the  primi- 
tive traditions  of  nations,  present  a  striking  analogy  even  in 
minute  circumstances.  Does  not  the  humming-bird  of  Tezpi 
call  to  mind  the  dove  of  Noah,  that  of  Deucalion,  and  the 
10* 


226  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

birds,  according  to  Berosus,  which  Xisuthrus  sent  forth  from 
the  Ark,  to  try  if  the  waters  had  subsided,  and  if  as  yet  he 
could  erect  altars  to  the  gods  of  Chaldea  ?  The  raven  no 
less  than  the  dove  and  the  order  no  less  than  the  name ;  the 
first  the  ravenous  beast  not  returning ;  the  second,  forever 
afterward  the  bird  of  peace,  re-appearing  and  re-entering, 
identify  each  narrative  as  that  of  the  selfsame  fact  with  a 
speciality  of  circumstances  which  sober  reason  cannot  mis- 
interpret or  mistrust." 

From  the  same  high  authority,  we  have  also  this  strik- 
ing acknowledgment :  "  These  ancient  traditions  of  the 
human  race,  which  we  find  dispersed  over  the  surface  of 
the  globe,  like  the  fragments  of  a  vast  shipwreck,  are  of  the 
greatest  interest  in  the  philosophical  study  of  our  species. 
Like  certain  families  of  plants,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
diversity  of  climates  and  the  influence  of  heights,  retain  the 
impress  of  a  common  type,  so  the  traditions  respecting  the 
primitive  state  of  the  globe,  present  among  all  nations  a 
resemblance  that  fills  us  with  astonishment :  so  many  differ- 
ent languages,  belonging  to  branches  which  have  no  con- 
nection with  each  other,  transmit  the  same  facts  to  us. 
The  substance  of  the  traditions  respecting  the  destroyed 
races  and  the  renovation  of  nature,  is  everywhere  almost 
the  same,  although  each  nation  gives  it  a  local  coloring. 
In  the  great  continents,  as  in  the  smallest  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  it  is  always  on  the  highest  and  nearest 
mountains,  that  the  remains  of  the  human  race  were  saved ; 
and  this  event  appears  so  much  the  more  recent,  the  more 
uncultivated  the  nations  are." l 

There  is  manifestly  but  one  natural  and  satisfactory  ex- 
planation of  this  wonderful  harmony  in  the  traditions  of  all 
nations  in  all  parts  of  the  earth — nations,  the  most  diverse 
in  language,  religion,  laws,  and  manners ;  and  that  is,  that 
all  of  them  must  have  had  their  origin  in  one  event,  whose 
*  Humboldt's  Travels  and  Researches,  pp.  190-92. 


PEIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  227 

memory  neither  the  power  of  time  nor  the  dispersion  of  the 
human  family  over  all  the  continents  and  islands  of  the 
earth,  has  been  able  to  obliterate,  though  as  the  stream 
advanced  from  its  source,  it  necessarily  became  mingled 
with  many  absurdities  and  fictions. 

As  we  proceed,  we  find  other  traces  and  resemblances 
which  point  unmistakably  to  succeeding  facts  and  events 
in  the  sacred  history.  Grotius  farther  says,  that  u  Japhet, 
primogenitor  of  the  Europeans,  and  from  him  Jon,  or  as  it 
was  formerly  pronounced,  Javon  of  the  Greeks,  also  Ham- 
mon  of  the  Africans,  are  names  to  be  found  in  the  writings 
of  Moses,  and  others  are  traced  by  Josephus  and  other 
writers  in  the  names  of  nations  and  places.  Which  of  the 
poets  does  not  mention  the  attempt  to  climb  the  heavens  ?  " 
The  following  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  Scripture 
narrative  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  and  the  confusion  of 
tongues  is  given  by  Mr.  Rawlinson  from  an  old  writer, 
Abydenus,  who  either  drew  directly  from  the  Chaldean 
historian  Berosus,  or  had  access  to  the  sources  which  he 
used :  "  At  this  time  the  ancient  race  of  men  were  so 
pufied  up  with  their  strength  and  tallness  of  stature  that 
they  began  to  despise  and  contemn  the  gods,  and  labored 
to  erect  that  very  lofty  tower  which  is  now  called  Babylon, 
intending  thereby  to  scale  heaven.  But  when  the  build- 
ing approached  the  sky,  behold  the  gods  called  in  the  aid 
of  the  winds,  and  by  their  help  overturned  the  tower  and 
cast  it  to  the  ground.  The  name  of  the  ruins  is  still  called 
Babel,  because,  until  this  time,  all  men  had  used  the  same 
speech,  but  now  there  was  sent  upon  them  a  confusion  of 
many  and  diverse  tongues." 

The  burning  of  Sodom  is  mentioned  by  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus,  Strabo,  Tacitus,  Pliny,  and  Solerinus.  Tacitus  relates 
that  "  a  tradition  still  prevailed  in  his  days  of  certain  pow- 
erful cities  having  been  destroyed  by  thunder  and  lightning, 
and  of  the  rich  plains  in  which  they  were  situated  having 


228  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

been  burnt  up.  He  adds,  that  evident  traces  of  such  a 
catastrophe  remained,  while  the  parched  and  burnt  soil 
had  lost  its  fertility.  This  historian  concludes  with  express- 
ing his  own  belief  in  that  awful  judgment,  derived  from  an 
attentive  consideration  of  the  country  in  which  it  was  said 
to  have  happened.  In  a  similar  manner,  Strabo,  after  de- 
scribing the  nature  of  the  lake  Asphaltis,  adds,  that  the 
whole  of  its  appearance  gives  an  air  of  probability  to  the 
prevailing  tradition,  that  thirteen  cities,  the  chief  of  which 
was  Sodom,  were  once  destroyed  and  swallowed  up  by 
earthquakes,  fire,  and  an  inundation  of  boiling  sulphurous 
water." 

"  Herodotus,  Diodorus,  Strabo,  and  Philo  Biblius  bear 
testimony  to  the  very  ancient  custom  of  circumcision, 
which  was  practised  among  the  descendants  of  Abraham ; 
not  the  Hebrews  only,  but  also  the  Iduma3ans,  Ishmaelites, 
and  others.  The  history  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and 
Joseph,  in  accordance  with  that  of  Moses,  formerly  existed 
in  Philo  Biblius,  taken  from  Sanchoniathon,  in  Berosus, 
Hecata3us,  Damascenus,  Artaphanus,  Eupolimus,  Deme- 
trius, and  partly  in  the  very  ancient  writers  of  the  Orphic 
songs,  and  something  is  still  extant  in  Justin  taken  from 
Trogus  Pompeius." 

References  to  Moses,  the  Hebrew  lawgiver,  are  found 
in  various  Pagan  historians :  Diodorus  Siculus  calls  him  a 
man  of  most  superior  wisdom  and  courage.  He  mentions 
the  departure  of  Israel  from  Egypt ;  of  their  advance  into 
Palestine,  and  seizure  of  a  number  of  cities,  particularly 
Jerusalem.  He  speaks  of  their  worship,  their  tribes,  their 
code  of  laws,  by  which  they  were  kept  separate  from  every 
other  people  ;  of  the  priesthood  established  in  one  family ; 
of  judges,  instead  of  kings,  being  appointed  to  decide  all 
their  controversies,  and  the  supreme  authority  being  vested 
in  the  chief  priest ;  he  adds,  that  Moses  concluded  the  vol- 
ume of  his  laws  by  claiming  for  them  divine  inspiration. 


PRIMITIVE    HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  229 

Strabo  also  mentions  various  particulars  respecting  Moses. 
Eupolimus  likewise  celebrates  him  as  being  the  first  wise 
man,  and  the  inventor  of  letters,  which  the  Phoenicians  re- 
ceived from  the  Jews,  and  the  Greeks  from  the  Phoenicians. 
The  Orphic  songs  also  expressly  mention  that  he  was  drawn 
out  of  the  water,  and  the  two  tables  were  given  him  from 
God. 

In  the  decree  issued  by  the  magistrates  of  Pergamos, 
forty-four  years  B.  C.,  the  following  statement  is  found : 
"  Our  ancestors  were  friendly  to  the  Jews,  even  in  the  days 
of  Abraham,  who  was  the  father  of  all  the  Hebrews,  as  we 
have  also  found  it  set  down  in  our  public  records." 

We  have  also  the  testimony  of  Josephus  already  noticed 
that  in  the  public  records  of  different  nations,  and  in  a 
great  number  of  books  extant  in  his  time,  evidences  were 
to  be  found  that  the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  history 
of  Israel  were  admitted  generally  by  the  Heathen  world,  as 
veritable  and  indisputable  facts. 

Not  a  few  of  the  memorable  incidents  in  the  career  of 
the  great  Hebrew  lawgiver  are  mentioned  in  the  pages  of 
Artapanus,  a  Greek  historian  of  uncertain,  but  very  ancient 
date.  The  oppression  of  the  Israelites ;  the  flight  of  Moses 
into  Arabia,  and  his  subsequent  marriage;  a  circumstance 
similar  to  that  of  the  burning  bush ;  his  Divine  commission 
to  deliver  his  countrymen ;  the  transformation  of  his  rod 
into  a  serpent ;  the  various  plagues  of  Egypt ;  the  spoiling 
of  the  Egyptians ;  the  passage  through  the  Red  sea ;  the 
destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host ;  and  the  support  of 
the  Israelites  by  manna  in  the  wilderness,  are  all  related  in 
his  narrative.  Moses  is  further  said  to  be  the  person 
whom  the  Greeks  call  Musasus,  the  preceptor  of  the  cele- 
brated Orpheus.  The  same  author  asserts,  that  the  passage 
of  the  Israelites  through  the  Red  sea  was  not  unknown  to 
the  Heliopolitans,  who  gave  the  following  account  of  that 
supernatural  transaction  :  "  The  king  of  Egypt,  as  soon  as 


230  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  Jews  had  departed  from  his  country,  pursued  them 
with  an  immense  army,  bearing  along  with  him  the  conse- 
crated animals.  But  Moses  having  by  the  Divine  command 
struck  the  waters  with  his  rod,  they  parted  asunder,  and 
afforded  a  free  passage  to  the  Israelites.  The  Egyptians 
attempted  to  follow  them,  when  fire  suddenly  flashed  in 
their  faces,  and  the  sea,  returning  to  its  usual  channel, 
brought  a  universal  destruction  upon  their  whole  army." 
The  circumstance  of  the  Egyptians  being  struck  with 
lightning,  as  well  as  being  overwhelmed  by  the  waves,  is 
mentioned  in  the  77th  Psalm,  although  not  noticed  in  the 
Pentateuch. 

From  Diodorus  Siculus  we  learn  that  the  Ichthyophagi, 
who  lived  near  the  Red  sea,  had  a  tradition  handed  down 
to  them  through  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  that  the  whole 
bay  was  once  laid  bare  to  the  very  bottom,  the  waters 
retiring  to  the  opposite  shores;  and  that  they  afterward 
returned  to  their  accustomed  channel  with  a  most  tremen- 
dous revulsion.  Even  to  this  day,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
coast  of  Corondel  preserve  the  remembrance  of  a  mighty 
army  having  been  once  drowned  in  the  bay  which  Ptolemy 
calls  Clysma. 

In  the  fragments  of  Manetho,  we  meet  with  a  distinct 
though  distorted  notice  of  the  departure  of  the  Israelites 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  The  Hebrews  are  represent- 
ed as  leprous  and  impious  Egyptians,  who,  under  the  con- 
duct of  a  priest  of  Heliopolis,  named  Moses,  rebelled  on 
account  of  oppression,  occupied  a  town  called  Avaris,  or 
Abaris,  and  having  called  in  the  aid  of  the  people  of  Jeru- 
salem, made  themselves  masters  of  Egypt,  which  they  held 
for  thirteen  years ;  but  who  were  at  last  defeated  by  the 
Egyptian  king,  and  driven  from  Egypt  into  Syria.  Upon 
this  passage  Mr.  Rawlinson  remarks :  "  We  have  here  the 
oppression,  the  name  Moses,  the  national  name  Hebrew, 
under  the  disguise  of  Abaris,  and  the  true  direction  of  the 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  231 

retreat ;  but  we  have  all  the  special  circumstances  of  the 
occasion  concealed  under  a  general  confession  of  disaster ; 
and  we  have  a  claim  of  triumph  which  consoled  the 
wounded  vanity  of  the  nation,  but  which  we  know  to  have 
been  unfounded.  On  the  whole,  we  have  perhaps  as  much 
as  we  could  reasonably  expect  the  annals  of  the  Egyptians 
to  tell  us  of  transactions  so  little  to  their  credit ;  and  we 
have  a  narrative  fairly  confirming  the  principal  facts,  as 
well  as  very  curious  in  many  of  its  particulars." 

In  the  characteristics  ascribed  to  Hermes  or  Mercury 
in  the  Grecian  Mythology,  we  find  some  remarkable  coin- 
cidences with  the  Scripture  narrative  of  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  Moses,  which  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  except 
upon  the  supposition  that  the  heathen  legend  is  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  inspired  account  of  the  illustrious  leader  of  the 
Hebrews.  The  Caduceus  of  Hermes,  with  the  serpents 
twining  around  his  rod,  is  at  once  suggestive  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Moses  armed  with  the  credentials  of  his  mission. 
If  Moses  descended  from  the  Mount  with  the  commands  of 
Go.d,  and  was  emphatically  God's  messenger,  so  was  Her- 
mes the  messenger  from  Olympus ;  his  chief  office  was  that 
of  messenger.  If  Moses  is  known  as  the  slayer  of  the 
Egyptian,  so  is  Hermes  (and  so  is  he  more  frequently  called 
in  Homer)  Argiphontes  the  slayer  of  Argus,  the  overseer 
of  a  hundred  eyes.  Moses  conducted  through  the  wilder- 
ness to  the  Jordan,  those  who  died  and  reached  not  the 
promised  land ;  nor  did  he  pass  the  Jordan.  So  was  Her- 
mes the  conductor  of  the  dead,  delivering  them  over  to 
Charon  (and  here  note  the  resemblance  of  the  name  with 
Aaron,  the  brother  and  associate  of  Moses) ;  nor  was  he  to 
pass  to  the  Elysian  fields.  In  the  hymn  of  Hermes  ascribed 
to  Homer,  other  coincidences  may  be  found. 

The  remarkable  miracle  by  which  Joshua  was  enabled 
to  complete  the  overthrow  of  the  confederate  enemies  of 
Israel,  is  also  another  event  corroborated  by  tradition,  and 


232  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

in  such  a  manner  as  to  shame  the  cavils  of  the  scorner.  It 
is  recorded  that  Joshua  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still 
on  Gibeon.  The  slaughter  of  the  armies  of  the  five  kings 
commenced  after  he  had  "  gone  up  all  night  from  Gilgal." 
He  came  upon  the  enemy  "  suddenly."  It  was  during  the 
pursuit  which  immediately  commenced,  that  Joshua,  in  the 
strength  of  the  God  of  Israel,  uttered  the  command  which 
must  have  confounded  the  worshippers  of  the  sun  and 
moon.  The  sacred  writer  declares  that  "  there  was  no  day 
like  that,  before  it  or  after  it."  The  fabled  fall  of  Phieton 
and  the  history  of  Hercules  both  establish  the  fact,  that  it 
was  known  to  the  recorders  of  ancient  tradition,  that  there 
had  been  a  night^  like  which  was  no  night  before  it  or  after 
it.  In  the  history  of  Hercules,  it  is  fabled  that  Jupiter 
caused  a  long  night — a  night  equal  to  three  ordinary  nights. 
Now,  in  consequence  of  the  miracle  wrought  in  Palestine, 
it  is  obvious  that  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  known 
world,  instead  of  the  return  of  the  day,  they  had  continued 
night.  At  the  time  the  revolution  of  the  globe  was  sus- 
pended, while  "  the  sun  stood  still  in  the  midst  of  Heaven," 
over  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  western  world  must  have  re- 
mained in  darkness.  To  this  then  may  be  traced  the  fabled 
destruction  of  Phaeton,  when  he  attempted  to  direct  the 
chariot  of  the  sun.  Conflicting  accounts  would,  however, 
be  received  from  the  more  eastern  countries,  some  of  which 
would  have  had  twilight,  and  part  even  might  have  just 
seen  the  sun  arrested  in  his  rising,  or  heard  that  it  might 
be  seen  during  the  period  of  their  long  night. 

"  But  still  more  extraordinary  testimony  to  the  occur- 
rence of  the  miracle  has  been  lately  brought  to  light  from 
the  records  of  Hindoo  mythology.  As  in  the  fables  of 
"Western  Paganism,  we  read  of  an  extraordinary  night,  so 
in  the  traditions  of  the  eastern  hemisphere,  we  hear  of  a 
day  of  extraordinary  length.  This  fact  is  incontestably 
proved  by  the  Skanda  Purana,  where  it  is  related,  that  at 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  233 

the  end  of  the  Suttya  Jug,  or  golden  age,  a  mountain 
arose,  and  for  a  time  impeded  the  progress  of  the  sun,  till 
by  miraculous  agency,  at  the  prayer  of  Agastya,  the  ob- 
stacle was  removed,  the  mountain  sunk  into  its  place,  and 
the  sun  was  permitted  to  pursue  his  wonted  course." 

In  addition  to  the  above,  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
sacrifice  of  Iphigenia  is  a  mythical  version  of  the  story  of 
Jephthah's  daughter,  and  that  the  Prometheus  Bound  of 
JEschylus  is  a  Pagan  conception  of  the  promised  deliverer 
whose  sufferings  would  accomplish  the  reconciliation  of  di- 
vine justice  and  divine  love. 

Such  are  the  most  important  traditionary  fragments  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  profane  sources,  respecting  the 
early  ages  of  the  world.  They  are  at  least  sufficient  to  re- 
fute the  infidel  charge  that  the  principal  facts  related  in  the 
books  of  Moses  depend  merely  upon  his  solitary  testimony. 
On  the  contrary  they  show  that  the  concurrent  voice  of  all 
nations  witnesses  hi  their  behalf.  From  the  Nile  to  the 
Ganges,  and  from  China  to  Peru,  whatever  of  ancient  rec- 
ord or  tradition  can  be  found,  supports  the  truth  of  the 
facts  recorded  in  the  Bible.  And  though  the  enemies  of 
Christianity,  with  the  most  perverse  ingenuity,  have  ran- 
sacked all  the  archives  of  antiquity,  their  efforts  have  been 
in  vain.  Not  the  slightest  contradictory  evidence  can  be 
produced.  And  can  this  be  the  work  of  chance  ?  Can  we 
believe  that  the  combination  of  the  traditions  of  all  heathen 
nations  in  support  of  the  truth  of  Scripture  is  nothing  more 
than  a  curious  coincidence  ?  Surely,  the  Epicurean  hypoth- 
esis, according  to  which  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms 
produced  the  glorious  universe,  is  hardly  more  absurd. 
Testimony  from  such  sources  cannot  be  impeached,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  reconcile  it  with  any  other  conclusion  than 
that  the  Bible  is  the  Book  of  God. 

But  though  valuable  as  auxiliary  evidence,  these  classic 
and  heathen  legends  are  in  themselves  shadowy  and  unsub- 


234  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

stantial.  They  do  not  dispel  the  darkness  of  primeval  his- 
tory, and,  had  we  no  other  source  of  information,  we  should 
know  nothing  respecting  the  dawn  of  the  human  race.  In 
the  Bible  we  find  the  realities  of  these  shadows  and  are 
brought  out  of  darkness  into  light.  It  has  no  mythical 
ages  of  gods  and  demi-gods,  claims  no  fabulous  antiquity 
for  its  people,  asserts  no  divine  origin  for  its  heroes.  As 
it  is  free  from  the  absurdities  of  false  physical  science,  so 
neither  does  it  contain  even  an  allusion  to  the  fabulous  ani- 
mals and  races  in  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans  believed. 
It  tells  of  no  nation  of  Pigmies,  or  Cimmerians,  who  live  in 
perpetual  darkness ;  no  men  "  whose  heads  grew  beneath 
their  shoulders ! "  no  griffins  or  phoenixes  or  other  mon- 
sters. It  has  no  tales  of  water  carried  in  a  sieve  or  of 
olive  trees  transplanting  themselves,  like  those  which  Pliny 
relates  with  such  trustful  credulity.  It  relates,  indeed,  many 
marvels  and  wonders,  but  they  are  all  wrought  by  the  hand 
of  the  Omnipotent  Creator,  and  are  worthy  in  themselves 
of  the  putting  forth  of  his  might.  It  takes  us  back  to  what 
was  ere  Time  began  his  career,  and  enables  us  to  behold  the 
Heavens  and  the  Earth  arise  out  of  nothing  at  the  word  of 
God.  It  tells  us  when  and  where  the  original  man  emerged 
from  the  dust  under  the  forming  hand  of  the  Creator.  It 
tells  us  of  his  glorious  original  endowments,  how  he  was 
made  upright  and  in  the  image  of  God.  It  then  tells  the 
sad  story  of  his  fall,  and  thus  solves  that  enigma  so  perplex- 
ing to  the  lofty  piercing  intellects  of  Pagan  sages,  who  saw 
that  some  terrible  disaster,  some  dire  calamity,  must  have 
happened  to  the  physical  and  moral  system  of  the  world, 
but  who  could  not  interpret  "  the  groans  of  nature."  The 
numerous  and  wide  spread  traditions  of  the  flood.,  which 
left  to  ourselves  we  should  have  guessed  in  vain,  here  in  the 
graphic  description  of  the  inspired  Hebrew  historian  find 
their  true  significance.  By  the  same  volume  we  are  assist- 
ed in  accounting  for  the  multiplicity  of  languages  which 


PRIMITIVE   HISTORICAL   TRADITIONS.  235 

now  exist  in  the  world,  and  for  that  remarkable  method  of 
attempting  to  appease  the  divine  wrath  by  sacrifice,  once 
so  universal,  until  the  light  of  Christianity  made  known  the 
only  prevailing  sacrifice  of  the  Redeemer.  Here  also  is 
recorded  the  original  dispersion  of  those  primitive  races, 
whose  descendants  now  people  the  globe,  and  here  we  read 
of  the  rise  and  fall  of  ancient  empires  which  had  run  their 
race  of  glory  ere  Greece  and  Rome  had  won  a  place  in  his- 
tory. And  here,  above  all,  are  recorded  the  gradual  un- 
foldings  of  that  wondrous  plan  of  grace,  whose  consumma- 
tion •"  kings  and  prophets  waited  for,"  which  reveals  hope 
to  those  who  were  ready  to  perish,  and  a  way  to  everlast^ 
ing  joys  to  those  who  "  sat  in  darkness  and  the  shado\y  of 
death." 

Thus  while  the  legends  of  the  primitive  ages  which  are 
found  in  the  Heathen  writers  are  "  but  a  tissue  of  dream 
and  fable,  and  may  be  compared  to  the  scanty  shrubs  of 
the  desert  in  a  mirage,  which  will  often  enlarge  themselves 
into  distant  groves  of  palms  and  cedars,  watered  by  clear 
lakes,  and  cheat  the  eye  with  their  grandeur  and  beauty ; 
the  early  history  of  the  Old  Testament  stands  out  alone, 
like  a  solitary  column  amidst  broken  ruins,  or  one  opening 
of  clear  sky  amid  the  dense  mists  of  the  morning,  which 
everywhere  else  conceal  the  origin  of  nations  and  primeval 
antiquity  in  mysterious  darkness."  1 

Truly  then  does  ancient  Fuller  say :  "  Without  this  his- 
tory the  world  would  be  in  total  darkness,  not  knowing 
whence  it  came  or  whither  it  goeth.  In  the  first  page  of 
this  sacred  book  a  child  may  learn  more  in  one  hour,  than 
all  the  philosophers  of  the  world  in  a  thousand  years." 

1  Christian  Observer. 


CHAPTEE   VII. 

ANCIENT    HISTORY. 

As  the  era  of  the  New  Testament  falls  considerably 
within  the  historic  period,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  high  and 
grave  importance  to  ascertain  whether  the  facts  which  it 
relates  bear  the  undeniable  impress  of  authenticity  and 
truth.  As  far  more  abundant  materials  are  at  hand,  where- 
with to  sift  and  verify  its  statements,  than  in  the  case  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  more  imperative  the  necessity  to  show 
that  it  is  prepared  to  sustain  the  scrutiny.  This  is  a  point 
which  modern  scepticism  has  assaulted  with  all  its  resources 
of  subtilty  and  art.  It  has  labored  to  show  that  we  know 
nothing  of  the  rise  of  Christianity  "  as  a  matter  of  certain 
history — that  it  was  not  till  a  comparatively  late  period 
tliat  some  floating  legends,  half  romance  and  half  parable, 
spun  in  the  brain  of  Asiatic  visionaries,  assumed  at  last  a 
definite  form,  and  came  to  be  mistaken  for  history,  when  it 
was  too  late  to  look  back  and  test  historically  whether  or  no 
the  things  reported  had  really  occurred."  Evidently,  this 
objection,  if  it  could  be  maintained,  would  be  a  fatal  one  to 
the  cause  of  revelation ;  for  it  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  our 
religion  that  it  is  indissolubly  bound  up  with  facts,  so  that 
it  must  stand  or  fall  with  them.  "  We  may  concede,"  says 
Mr.  Rawlinson  in  his  Bampton  Lectures,  "  the  truth  of  the 
whole  story  of  Mahomet  as  it  was  related  by  his  early  fol- 
lowers, and  this  concession  in  no  sort  carries  with  it  even 
the  probable  truth  of  the  religion.  But  it  is  otherwise  with 


ANCIENT  HISTOEY.  237 

the  religion  of  the  Bible.  There,  whether  we  look  to  the 
Old  or  the  New  Testament,  the  Jewish  dispensation  or  the 
Christian,  we  find  a  scheme  of  doctrine  which  is  bound  up 
with  facts ;  which  depends  absolutely  upon  them ;  which  is 
null  and  void  without  them ;  and  which  may  be  regarded 
for  all  practical  purposes,  established,  if  they  are  shown  to 
deserve  acceptance."  Let  the  advent  and  life  of  Jesus 
Christ,  his  miracles,  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  the 
miracles  wrought  by  his  apostles  after  his  ascension  to  Hea- 
ven, be  disproved  as  matters  of  fact,  and  the  whole  fabric 
of  Christianity,  with  all  its  peculiar  doctrines,  is  a  manifest 
imposture. 

A  point  of  no  little  importance  is  gained,  toward  estab- 
lishing the  historic  verity  of  those  facts,  when  it  is  shown 
that  in  the  times  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  exception 
of  our  Lord's  resurrection,  they  were  uncontradicted.  For 
let  it  be  noted  that  in  those  times  detection  in  case  of  error 
or  fraud  was  inevitable.  The  events  of  Scripture  are  de- 
tailed with  the  greatest  minuteness  as  to  time,  place,  and 
circumstances,  connected  with  numerous  public  facts,  and 
names  of  public  men.  The  occasions  also  on  which  the 
miracles  were  wrought  are  stated,  and  the  names  of  the 
persons  who  were  the  subjects  of  them, — some  of  them  well 
known  characters, — with  their  places  of  abode,  are  often 
given, — while  the  general  facts  respecting  Jesus  Christ,  as 
claiming  to  be  the  Messiah,  were  of  the  most  public  nature, 
connected  with  the  government,  and  involving  the  interests 
and  characters  of  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  especially  of  the 
chief  men  and  rulers. 

Can  it  be  supposed  then  that  with  all  the  intense  malig- 
nity and  opposition  that  were  enkindled  by  the  Christian 
religion,  those  facts  would  have  remained  unchallenged,  if 
their  truth  could  have  been  successfully  impugned  ?  That 
the  numerous  enemies  of  the  Gospel  in  the  early  ages  of  our 
faith,  refrained  from  attacking  the  truth  of  the  facts  upon 


238  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE, 

which  Christianity  rested,  is  a  tacit  admission  that  their 
notoriety  rendered  a  contradiction  hopeless. 

But  there  is  also  abundance  of  positive  testimony.  "  As 
an  historical  question,"  says  Isaac  Taylor,  "  Christianity  is 
distinguished  from  others  of  a  like  nature  by  nothing,  un- 
less it  be  the  multiplicity  and  the  force  of  the  evidence  it 
presents.  The  Gospels  demand  a  verdict  according  to  the 
evidence,  in  a  firmer  tone  than  any  other  ancient  histories 
that  can  be  put  to  the  bar  of  common  sense.  From  those 
who  are  convinced  of  its  truth,  Christianity  does,  indeed, 
ask  the  surrender  of  assent  to  whatever  it  reveals  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  unseen  world;  but  to  its  impugners  it 
speaks  only  of  things  obvious  and  palpable  as  the  objects 
and  occupations  of  common  life ;  and  in  relation  to  matters 
so  simple,  it  demands  what  cannot  be  withheld — the  same 
assent  which  we  yield  to  the  same  proof  in  all  other  cases." 

Dr.  Lardner  and  others  have  filled  numerous  volumes 
with  evidence  drawn  from  the  writings  of  the  early  cen- 
turies, Jewish,  Profane,  and  Christian,  corroborating  the 
matters  of  fact  recorded  in  the  Gospels.  A  brief  abstract 
of  the  more  important  portions  of  this  evidence  is  all  that 
can  here  be  given. 

The  remarkable  fact  will  be  first  adverted  to,  of  the 
wide  spread  anticipation  of  the  coming  of  some  illustrious 
Personage,  which  prevailed  in  the  world  contemporaneous- 
ly with  the  Advent  of  Christ.  Not  only  were  the  Jews 
looking  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  Messianic  prophecies,  but 
throughout  the  Roman  empire  there  was  an  anxious  expec- 
tation of  some  wonderful  event,  and  even  the  oracles  and 
sybils  of  heathenism  became  instinct  with  prophetic  mutter- 
ings  of  a  new  dawn  in  human  affairs.  Whether  this  expec- 
tation is  to  be  attributed  to  lingering  traditions  of  the 
original  promise  made  to  our  fallen  progenitor,  or  to 
knowledge  of  the  prophecies  derived  from  the  dispersed 
Jews  or  the  Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament  Scrip- 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  239 

tures,  there  is  the  most  unexceptionable  historical  evidence 
of  its  existence.  The  beautiful  lines  in  the  fourth  Eclogue 
of  Virgil  are  well  known.  He  begins  the  poem  with  say- 
ing, that  "  the  last  age  of  the  Cumean  prophecy  is  come ; 
the  great  order  of  ages  again  commences;  the  virgin  is 
already  returning,  and  the  Saturnian  reign." 

"  The  last  great  age,  foretold  by  sacred  rhymes, 
Renews  its  finished  course ;  Saturnian  times 
Roll  round  again ;  and  mighty  years,  begun 
From  their  first  orb,  in  radiant  circles  run. 
The  base  degenerate  iron  offspring  ends ; 
A  golden  progeny  from  heaven  descends ; 
0,  chaste  Lucina,  speed  the  mother's  pains, 
And  haste  the  glorious  birth ! " 

According  to  this  eclogue,  the  son  to  be  born  was  to  be 
the  offspring  of  the  gods,  the  great  seed  of  Jupiter.  He 
was  to  command  the  world,  and  to  introduce  peace.  He 
was  to  abolish  violence  and  injustice,  and  to  restore  the 
life  of  man  to  its  original  innocence  and  happiness.  He 
was  to  Kill  the  Serpent.  The  blessings  of  his  reign  were 
to  extend  to  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms.  The  lat* 
ter  was  to  be  purged  of  its  noxious  poisons,  and  the  nature 
of  the  most  savage  beasts  was  to  be  changed,  so  that  the 
lowing  herds  should  feed  secure  from  lions.  Still  there 
were  to  remain  some  traces  of  ancient  fraud.  Great  cities 
should  still  be  encompassed  with  walls,  and  war  should  be 
excited ;  but  at  length,  under  this  Sovereign,  all  was  to  be 
composed  and  happy, — when 

"  No  plough  shall  hurt  the  glebe,  no  pruning  hook  the  vine. 
The  Fates,  when  they  this  happy  web  have  spun, 
Shall  bless  the  sacred  clew,  and  bid  it  smoothly  run. 
Mature  in  years,  to  ready  honors  move, 
0,  of  celestial  seed  !     0  foster  son  of  Jove ! 
See,  lab'ring  Nature*  calls  thee  to  sustain 
The  nodding  frame  of  heaven,  and  earth,  and  main : 
See  to  their  base  restor'd,  earth,  seas,  and  air, 
And  joyful  ages  from  behind,  in  crowding  ranks  appear.' 


TJNI 


240  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO  THE   BIBLE. 

This  poem  proves,  not  only  the  expectation  which  at 
that  time  prevailed  of  the  great  king  who  was  to  arise,  but 
describes  the  precise  features  of  Messiah's  reign,  as  deline- 
ated by  the  Hebrew  prophets,  and  especially  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  its  effects  on  the  world,  which  were  to  be 
most  remarkable,  not  at  the  commencement,  but  after  the 
conclusion  of  a  certain  period. 

The  flatterers  of  Vespasian  professed  to  find  the  fulfil- 
ment of  this  general  expectation  in  the  accession  of  that 
emperor  to  the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  Josephus  expressly 
assigns  it  as  the  principal  cause  of  the  revolt  of  the  Jews 
against  the  Roman  government,  and  of  the  provocation  of 
that  war  which  terminated  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  time  when  Vespasian  waged 
war  with  the  Jews,  asserts  that  "  a  firm  persuasion  prevailed 
among  a  great  many  that  it  was  contained  in  the  ancient 
sacerdotal  writings,  that  about  this  time  it  should  come  to 
pass  that  the  East  should  prevail,  and  that  those  who  should 
come  out  of  Judea  should  obtain  the  empire  of  the  world." 

Suetonius,  in  his  life  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  relates 
that  "there  had  prevailed,  all  over  the  East,  an  ancient 
and  constant  opinion,  that  it  was  in  the  fates,  that  at  that 
time  there  should  come  out  of  Judea  those  who  should  ob- 
tain the  empire  of  the  world." 

"  It  is  thus  established  as  an  undoubted  fact,  that  at  the 
period  of  the  Advent  of  the  Redeemer,  there  existed  a  gen- 
eral expectation  of  the  coming  of  some  great  and  distin- 
guished Personage ;  that  it  was  uniform,  that  it  was  ancient, 
that  it  was  founded  on  what  was  believed  to  be  the  decree 
of  heaven,  and  contained  in  the  sacerdotal  writings,  that  he 
who  should  appear  was  to  come  out  of  Judea,  and  that  he 
was  to  obtain  the  empire  of  the  world.  And  this  gives  a 
striking  significancy  to  the  declaration  of  the  prophet,  which 
in  '  the  fulness  of  time '  was  fulfilled  at  Bethlehem,  that c  the 
Desire  of  all  nations  should  come.' " 


ANCIENT   HISTOKT.  241 

Josephus,  the  celebrated  Jewish  historian,  was  contem- 
porary with  the  Apostles,  having  been  born  in  the  year  37. 
His  abilities  were  considerable,  and  he  had  the  best  oppor- 
tunities for  information  respecting  the  early  rise  of  the 
Christian  Religion. 

In  his  Antiquities  there  is  a  remarkable  passage  respect- 
ing the  character  and  claims  of  Jesus,  which,  however,  as 
it  is  objected  to  by  the  enemies  of  Christianity  as  spurious, 
though  upon  insufficient  grounds,  we  will  not  urge  it  as 
evidence.1  His  silence  elsewhere  respecting  the  Founder 
of  our  faith  and  the  Christian  religion  is  accounted  for  by 
his  being  a  Jew,  and  is  confirmatory  of  Christianity.  Had 
he  told  what  he  knew  he  would  have  condemned  himself. 
The  minute  description  he  has  given  of  the  other  religious 
sects  in  Judea,  fully  proves  that  this  important  omission 
was  one  of  design,  to  which  he  was  compelled  by  circum- 
stances. 

The  account,  however,  which  Josephus  has  given  us  in 
his  Antiquities  and  in  his  history  of  the  Jewish  War,  of  the 
state  of  Judea,  civil,  political,  and  moral  during  his  times, 
is  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  representations  which  we 
have  in  the  Gospels.  He  supplies,  moreover,  a  fact  which 
had  been  passed  over  in  the  Gospel  account,  probably  as 
belonging  to  secular  history,  but  which  is  strikingly  cor- 
roborative of  the  sacred  narrative.  We  read  in  St.  Mat- 
thew, that  on  the  death  of  Herod,  Joseph  "  arose  and  took 
the  young  child  and  his  mother,  and  came  into  the  land  of 

1  The  passage  is  as  follows :  "  Now  there  was  about  this  time  Jesus,  a 
wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call  him  a  man ;  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful 
works,  a  teacher  of  such  men  as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure.  He  drew 
over  to  him  both  many  of  the  Jews  amd  many  of  the  Gentiles.  He  was  (the) 
Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  principal  men  among  us, 
had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  those  that  loved  him  at  the  first  did  not 
forsake  him ;  for  he  appeared  to  be  alive  again  the  third  day ;  as  the  divine 
prophets  had  foretold  these,  and  ien  thousand  other  wonderful  things  con- 
cerning him.  And  the  tribe  of  Christians,  so  named  from  him,  are  not  ex- 
tinct at  this  day." 

11 


242  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

Israel.  But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  did  reign  in 
Judea,  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to  go 
thither."  The  particular  cause  of  this  sudden  fear,  the 
evangelist  does  not  mention.  But  Josephus  relates,  that 
the  first  act  of  Archelaus  was  the  cruel  murder  of  three 
thousand  Jews  at  the  festival  of  the  Passover — a  deed  of 
savage  atrocity,  the  knowledge  of  which,  on  the  return  of 
the  Jews  to  their  respective  cities,  could  not  fail  of  being 
instantly  carried  to  every  part  of  Judea,  and  which  accounts 
most  naturally  for  the  suspension  of  the  sacred  journey. 

The  testimony  of  Josephus  to  the  appearance  of  John 
the  Baptist  and  his  execution  by  Herod  is  still  more  im- 
portant, while  his  omission  of  all  reference  to  his  doctrine 
and  his  mission  as  forerunner  of  the  Messiah,  is  strikingly 
significant.  His  words  are :  "  Some  of  the  Jews  thought 
Herod's  army  was  destroyed  by  God,  he  being  justly  pun- 
ished for  the  slaughter  of  John,  who  was  surnamed  the 
Baptist.  For  Herod  had  put  that  good  man  to  death, 
although  he  exhorted  the  Jews,  after  having  exercised  vir- 
tue and  righteousness  towards  one  another,  and  having 
performed  the  duties  of  piety  towards  God,  to  come  to 
baptism.  For  thus  baptism  would  be  acceptable  to  him, 
not  if  they  abstained  from  some  sins  only,  but  if,  to  purity 
of  body,  they  joined  a  soul  first  cleansed  by  righteousness. 
But  when  many  gathered  round  him,  for  they  were  much 
pleased  with  the  hearing  of  such  discourses,  Herod,  fearing 
lest  the  people,  who  were  greatly  under  the  influence  of  his 
persuasion,  might  be  carried  to  some  insurrection  (for  they 
seemed  to  do  nothing  but  by  his  counsel),  judged  that  it 
might  be  better  to  seize  him.  before  any  insurrection  was 
made,  and  to  take  him  off,  than,  after  affairs  were  disturbed, 
to  repent  of  his  negligence.  Thus  he,  by  the  jealousy  of 
Herod,  being  sent  bound  to  Maduerus,  was  there  put  to 
death ;  and  the  Jews  thought  that,  on  account  of  the  pun- 
ishment of  this  person,  destruction  had  befallen  the  army, 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  243 

God  being  displeased  with  Herod."  In  this  passage,  while 
Josephus  assigns  such  a  reason  for  John's  death  as  might 
be  expected  from  a  courtier,  there  is  an  entire  coincidence 
as  to  the  historical  facts,  between  his  narrative  and  that  of 
the  sacred  historian. 

Under  the  Roman  government,  it  was  usual  for  rulers 
of  provinces  to  send  to  Rome  accounts  of  remarkable  trans- 
actions occurring  during  their  administration,  which  were 
preserved  as  official  documents  among  the  archives  of  the 
empire.  Referring  to  this  custom,  Eusebius  says :  "Our 
Saviour's  resurrection  being  much  talked  of  throughout 
Palestine,  Pilate  informed  the  emperor  of  it,  as  likewise  of 
his  miracles,  which  he  had  heard  of,  and  that,  being  raised 
up  after  he  had  been  put  to  death,  he  was  already  believed 
by  many  to  be  a  God."  The  same  fact  is  further  attested 
by  Justin  Martyr  in  his  first  Apology,  which  in  the  year 
140  was  presented  to  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius  and 
the  senate  of  Rome.  Having  mentioned  the  crucifixion  of 
Jesus,  and  some  of  the  circumstances  of  it,  he  adds :  "  And 
that  these  things  were  so  done,  you  may  know  from  the 
acts  made  in  the  time  by  Pontius  Pilate."  Tertullian,  in 
his  Apology,  about  the  year  198,  having  spoken  of  our 
Saviour's  crucifixion  and  resurrection,  his  appearances  to 
his  disciples,  and  his  ascension  to  heaven  in  the  sight  of  the 
same  disciples,  who  were  ordained  by  him  to  preach  the 
Gospel  over  the  world,  says:  "Of  all  these  things  relating 
to  Christ,  Pilate,  in  his  conscience  a  Christian,  sent  an  ac- 
count to  Tiberius,  then  emperor."  In  another  part  of  the 
same  Apology  he  adds:  "There  was  an  ancient  decree, 
that  no  one  should  be  received  for  a  deity  unless  he  was 
first  approved  by  the  senate.  Tiberius,  in  whose  time  the 
Christian  religion  had  its  rise,  having  received  from  Pales- 
tine in  Syria  an  account  of  such  things  as  manifested  our 
Saviour's  divinity,  proposed  to  the  senate,  giving  his 
own  vote  first  in  his  favor,  that  he  should  be  placed  among 


244  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

the  gods.  The  senate  refused,  because  he  had  himself  de- 
clined that  honor.  Nevertheless,  the  emperor  persisted  in 
his  own  opinion,  and  ordered,  that  if  any  accused  the  Chris- 
tians they  should  be  punished." 

The  probability  that  such  an  official  record  as  is  thus 
referred  to,  would  be  made,  is  certainly  very  great,  and  as 
great  is  the  improbability  that  in  their  Apologies,  these 
Christian  fathers  would  have  appealed  to  its  testimony,  had 
there  been  the  least  doubt  as  to  its  existence.  It  was  not 
made  public  for  the  reason  that  such  accounts  were  intend- 
ed only  for  the  government.  The  publication  of  the  acts 
of  the  senate  was  forbidden  by  Augustus. 

Important  confirmatory  evidence  is  also  derived  from 
the  writings  of  opponents  to  Christianity. 

Celsus,  a  heathen  philosopher,  wrote  a  book  against 
Christianity  in  the  second  century,  during  the  reign  of 
Hadrian  (A.  D.  118  to  138,  soon  after  the  death  of  St  John), 
the  title  being  "  The  True  Word,"  which  was  answered  by 
Origen.  In  this  work  he  introduces  a  Jew  declaiming 
against  Jesus  Christ  and  against  such  Jews  as  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  His  attack  *is  conducted  not  by 
denying  the  facts  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  of  which  he 
all  along  admits  the  truth,  but  by  reasoning  from  such  as 
the  following  topics :  That  it  was  absurd  to  esteem  and 
worship  one  as  God,  who  was  acknowledged  to  have  been 
a  man,  and  to  have  suffered  death ;  that  Jesus  Christ  in- 
vited sinners  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  that  it  was  in- 
consistent with  his  supposed  dignity  to  come  and  save  such 
low  and  despicable  creatures  as  Jews  and  Christians  ;  that 
he  spake  dishonorably  and  impiously  of  God  ;  and  that  the 
doctrines  and  precepts  of  religion  are  better  taught  by  the 
Greek  philosophers  than  in  the  Gospels,  and  without  the 
threatenings  of  God.  He  has  no  less  than  eighty  quota- 
tions from  the  New  Testament,  and  so  numerous  are  his 
references  to  the  life  of  Christ,  that  it  has  been  said  an 


ANCIENT  HISTORY.  245 

abridgment  of  the  evangelic  history  could  be  formed  from 
them ;  beginning  with  the  star  in 'the  East  and  the  massacre 
of  the  innocents,  and  continuing  down  to  the  crucifixion  and 
resurrection.  It  is  true,  he  speaks  of  these  events  with  re- 
sentment and  scorn,  but  he  does  not  venture  to  dispute  the 
authenticity  of  the  Scripture  account  of  them.  His  objec- 
tions only  prove  that  these  histories  and  doctrines  existed 
antecedently  to  his  cavils.  The  theory  by  which  he  would 
account  for  that  which  he  cannot  deny  or  disprove,  is  that 
Jesus,  being  "  brought  up  obscurely,  and  obliged  to  serve 
for  hire  in  Egypt,  learned  there  certain  powerful  arts,  for 
which  the  Egyptians  are  renowned ;  then  returned  greatly 
elated  with  his  power,  on  account  of  which  he  declared  him- 
self a  God." 

Tacitus,  the  celebrated  Roman  historian,  was  born  in 
the  year  61  or  62.  He  was  praetor  of  Rome  under  Domi- 
tian  in  88,  and  consul  in  the  short  reign  of  Nerva  in  97. 
In  his  account  of  the  great  fire  at  Rome  in  the  10th  of 
Nero,  about  thirty  years  after  our  Lord's  ascension,  he 
says — "  To  suppress,  therefore,  this  common  rumor  "  (viz., 
that  the  emperor  himself  had  set  fire  to  the  city),  "Nero 
procured  others  to  be  accused,  and  inflicted  exquisite  pun- 
ishments upon  those  people  who  were  abhorred  for  their 
crimes  and  were  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Chris- 
tians. They  had  their  denomination  from  Christus,  who, 
in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  was  put  to  death  as  a  criminal  by 
the  procurator  Pontius  Pilate.  This  pernicious  supersti- 
tion, though  checked  for  a  while,  broke  out  again,  and 
spread  not  only  over  Judea,  the  source  of  this  evil,  but 
reached  the  city  also,  whither  flow  from  all  quarters  all 
things  vile  and  shameful,  and  where  they  find  shelter  and 
encouragement.  At  first,  they  only  were  apprehended 
who  confessed  themselves  of  that  sect ;  afterwards  a  vast 
multitude,  discovered  by  them ;  all  of  whom  were  con- 
demned, not  so  much  for  the  crime  of  burning  the  city,  as 


246  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

for  their  enmity  to  mankind.  Their  executions  were  so 
contrived  as  to  expose  them  to  derision  and  contempt. 
Some  were  covered  over  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and 
torn  to  pieces  by  dogs ;  some  were  crucified ;  others,  hav- 
ing been  daubed  over  with  combustible  materials,  were  set 
up  as  lights  in  the  night  time,  and  thus  burnt  to  death. 
Nero  made  use  of  his  own  gardens  as  a  theatre  upon  this 
occasion,  and  also  exhibited  the  diversions  of  the  circus, 
sometimes  standing  in  the  crowd  as  a  spectator  in  the  habit 
of  a  charioteer ;  at  other  times  driving  a  chariot  himself, 
till  at  length  these  men,  though  really  criminal,  and  de- 
serving exemplary  punishment,  began  to  be  commiserated 
as  people  who  were  destroyed,  not  out  of  a  regard  to  the 
public  welfare,  but  only  to  gratify  the  cruelty  of  one  man." 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  Tacitus,  who  lived  in  the  same 
age  with  the  Apostles,  to  the  principal  facts  which  relate 
to  the  origin  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  to  its  rapid  progress. 
He  here  attests  that  Jesus  Christ  was  put  to  death  as  a 
malefactor,  by  Pontius  Pilate,  procurator  under  Tiberius ; 
that,  from  Christ,  the  people  called  Christians  took  their 
name  ;  that  this  religion  had  its  rise  in  Judea ;  that  thence 
it  was  propagated  into  other  parts  of  the  world,  as  far  as 
Rome,  where  Christians  were  very  numerous ;  and  that 
they  were  reproached  and  hated,  and  underwent  many  and 
grievous  sufferings. 

Suetonius,  a  Roman  historian  who  flourished  in  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Trajan,  A.  D.  116,  in  his  history  of  the  life 
of  Claudius,  who  reigned  from  the  year  41  to  54,  says  that 
"the  emperor  banished  the  Jews  from  Rome,  who  were 
continually  making  disturbances,  Christus  being  their 
leader."  The  first  Christians,  being  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
were  for  a  while  confounded  with  the  rest  of  that  people, 
and  shared  in  the  hardships  that  were  imposed  on  them. 
This  account,  however,  attests  what  is  related  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  (xviii,  2),  that  Claudius  had  commanded  all 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  247 

Jews  to  depart  from  Rome,  when  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  two 
Jewish  Christians,  were  compelled  to  leave  that  city.  In 
the  life  of  Nero,  whose  reign  began  in  54,  and  ended  in  68, 
Suetonius  says :  "  The  Christians  were  punished ;  a  sort  of 
men  of  a  new  and  malignant  superstition." 

On  the  foregoing  passage  of  Tacitus,  and  in  reference  to 
the  persecution  of  the  Christians  under  Nero,  Gibbon  re- 
marks :  "  The  most  sceptical  criticism  is  obliged  to  respect 
the  truth  of  this  extraordinary  fact,  and  the  integrity  of  this 
celebrated  passage  of  Tacitus.  The  former  is  confirmed  by 
the  diligent  and  accurate  Suetonius,  who  mentions  the  pun- 
ishment which  Nero  inflicted  upon  the  Christians."  Noth- 
ing but  the  force  of  undeniable  truth  could  have  wrung  so 
ample  an  admission  from  such  an  inveterate  enemy  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  second  great  persecution  of  the  Christians  is  re- 
corded to  have  taken  place  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Domitian,  having  begun  in  the  year  81,  and  terminated  in 
the  year  96.  During  that  time  an  interesting  and  well 
authenticated  incident  is  said  to  have  occurred.  Domitian 
made  inquiry  after  the  posterity  of  David,  and  two  men 
were  brought  before  him  of  that  family.  "  At  that  time," 
says  Hegesippus,  "  there  were  yet  remaining  of  the  kindred 
of  Christ  the  grandsons  of  Jude,  who  was  called  his  brother 
according  to  the  flesh.  These  some  accused  as  being  of  the 
race  of  David,  and  Evocatus  brought  them  before  Domiti- 
anus  Caesar ;  for  he  too  was  afraid  of  the  coming  of  the 
Christ,  as  well  as  Herod."  Of  these  men,  the  historian 
Gibbon  says :  "  They  frankly  confessed  their  royal  origin, 
and  their  near  relation  to  the  Messiah  ;  but  they  disclaimed 
any  temporal  views,  and  professed  that  his  kingdom  which 
they  devoutly  expected,  was  purely  of  a  spiritual  and  an- 
gelic nature.  When  they  were  examined  concerning  their 
origin  and  occupation,  they  showed  their  hands,  hardened 
with  daily  labor,  and  declared  that  they  derived  their  whole 


248  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

subsistence  from  the  cultivation  of  a  farm  near  Cocaba,  of  the 
extent  of  about  twenty-four  English  acres,  and  of  the  value 
of  three  hundred  pounds  sterling.  The  grandsons  of  St. 
Jude  were  dismissed  with  compassion  and  contempt." 

A  remarkable  historic  testimony  to  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity has  been  preserved  in  the  correspondence  of  Trajan 
and  Pliny.  Trajan  became  emperor  A.  D.  98,  and  in  the 
year  100  the  third  great  persecution  of  the  Christians  com- 
menced. The  younger  Pliny  was  appointed  proconsul  of 
Bithynia,  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire  on  the  Euxine 
Sea.  In  that  distant  region  there  were  now  vast  numbers 
of  Christians,  against  whom  the  proconsul,  according  to  the 
emperor's  edict,  used  great  severity.  Being  desirous  of 
more  full  information  how  to  proceed  against  them,  and 
"  being  moved,"  as  Eusebius  says,  "  at  the  multitude  of 
those  who  were  slain  for  the  faith,"  he  wrote  the  following 
letter  to  Trajan,  in  the  year  107,  and  in  the  same  year  re- 
ceived the  emperor's  rescript : 

"Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  health  and  happiness. 
It  is  my  constant  custom,  Sir,  to  refer  myself  to  you,  in  all 
matters  concerning  which  I  have  any  doubt.  For  who  can 
better  direct  me  where  I  hesitate,  or  instruct  me  where  I 
I  am  ignorant  ?  I  have  never  been  present  at  any  trials 
of  Christians ;  so  that  I  know  not  well  what  will  be  the 
subject-matter  of  punishment  or  inquiry,  or  what  strict- 
ness ought  to  be  used  in  either.  Nor  have  I  been  a  little 
perplexed  to  determine  whether  any  difference  ought  to 
be  made  upon  account  of  age,  or  whether  the  young  and 
tender,  and  the  full-grown  and  robust,  ought  to  be  treated 
all  alike ;  whether  repentance  should  entitle  to  pardon,  or 
whether  all  who  have  once  been  Christians  ought  to  be 
punished,  though  they  are  no  longer  so ;  whether  the  name 
itself,  although  no  crimes  be  detected,  or  crimes  only  be- 
longing to  the  name,  ought  to  be  punished.  Concerning 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  249 

all  these  things  I  am  in  doubt.  In  the  mean  time,  I  have 
taken  this  course  with  all  who  have  been  brought  before 
me,  and  have  been  accused  as  Christians.  I  have  put  the 
question  to  them,  whether  they  were  Christians?  Upon 
their  confessing  to  me  that  they  were,  I  repeated  the  ques- 
tion a  second  and  a  third  time,  threatening  also  to  punish 
them  with  death.  Such  as  still  persisted  I  ordered  away  to 
be  punished ;  for  it  was  no  doubt  with  me,  whatever  might 
be  the  nature  of  their  opinion,  that  contumacy  and  inflexible 
obstinacy  ought  to  be  punished.  There  were  others  of  tjie 
same  infatuation,  whom,  because  they  are  Roman  citizens, 
I  have  noted  down  to  be  sent  to  the  city.  In  a  short  time, 
the  crftne  spreading  itself,  even  whilst  under  persecution,  as 
is  usual  in  such  cases,  divers  sorts  of  people  came  in  my  way. 
An  information  was  presented  to  me,  without  mentioning 
the  author,  containing  the  names  of  many  persons,  who, 
upon  examination,  denied  that  they  were  Christians,  or  had 
eVer  been  so ;  who  repeated  after  me  an  invocation  of  the 
gods,  and  with  wine  and  frankincense  made  supplication  to 
your  image,  which,  for  that  purpose,  I  had  caused  to  be 
brought  and  set  before  them,  together  with  the  statues  of 
the  deities.  Moreover,  they  reviled  the  name  of  Christ, 
none  of  which  things,  as  is  said,  they  who  are  really  Chris- 
tians can  by  any  means  be  compelled  to  do.  These,  there- 
fore, I  thought  proper  to  discharge.  Others  were  named  by 
an  informer,  who  at  first  confessed  themselves  Christians, 
and  afterwards  denied  it ;  the  rest  said  they  had  been  Chris- 
tians, but  had  left  them  some  three  years  ago,  some  longer, 
and  one  or  more  above  twenty  years.  They  all  worshipped 
your  image,  and  the  statues  of  the  gods  ;  these  also  reviled 
Christ.  They  affirmed  that  the  whole  of  their  fault  or  error 
lay  in  this,  that  they  were  wont  to  meet  together  on  a  stated 
day,  before  it  was  light,  and  sing  among  themselves  alter- 
nately a  hymn  to  Christ  as  God ;  and  bind  themselves  by  an 
oath  not  to  the  commission  of  any  wickedness,  but  not  to 
11* 


250  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

be  guilty  of  theft,  or  robbery,  or  adultery,  never  to  falsify 
their  word,  nor  to  deny  a  pledge  committed  to  them,  when 
called  upon  to  return  it.  When  these  things  were  performed, 
it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and  then  to  come  together 
again  to  a  meal,  which  they  ate  ih  common,  without  any 
disorder ;  but  this  they  had  forborne  since  the  publication 
of  my  edict,  by  which,  according  to  your  commands,  I  pro- 
hibited assemblies.  After  receiving  this  account,  I  judged 
it  the  more  necessary  to  examine,  and  that  by  torture,  two 
maid-servants,  which  were  called  ministers.  But  I  have 
discovered  nothing  beside  a  bad  and  excessive  superstition. 
Suspending,  therefore,  all  judicial  proceedings,  I  have  re- 
course to  you  for  advice ;  for  it  has  appeared  unto  me  a 
matter  highly  deserving  consideration,  especially  upon  ac- 
count of  the  great  number  of  persons  who  are  in  danger  of 
suffering ;  for  many  of  all  ages,  and  every  rank,  of  both 
sexes  likewise,  are  accused,  and  will  be  accused.  Nor  has 
the  contagion  of  the  superstition  seized  cities  only,  but  the 
lesser  towns  also,  and  the  open  country.  Nevertheless  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  may  be  restrained  and  corrected.  It  is 
certain  that  the  temples,  which  were  almost  forsaken,  begin 
to  be  more  frequented.  And  the  sacred  solemnities,  after  a 
long  intermission,  are  revived.  Victims  likewise  are  every- 
where bought  up,  whereas  for  some  time  there  were  few 
purchasers.  Whence  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what  numbers 
of  men  might  be  reclaimed,  if  pardon  were  granted  to  those 
who  repent." 

To  this  letter  of  Pliny  the  following  reply  was  returned 
by  Trajan : 

"Trajan  to  Pliny,  health  and  happiness.  You  have 
taken  the  right  method,  my  Pliny,  in  your  proceedings  with 
those  who  have  been  brought  before  you  as  Christians ;  for 
it  is  impossible  to  establish  any  one  rule  that  shall  hold 
universally.  They  are  not  to  be  sought  for.  If  any  are 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  251 

brought  before  you,  and  are  convicted,  they  ought  to  be 
punished.  However,  he  that  denies  his  being  a  Christian, 
and  makes  it  evident  in  fact ;  that  is,  by  supplicating  our 
gods ;  though  he  be  suspected  to  have  been  so  formerly, 
let  him  be  pardoned  upon  repentance.  But  in  no  case  of 
crime  whatever,  may  a  bill  of  information  be  received,  with- 
out being  signed  by  him  who  presents  it ;  for  that  would 
be  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  unworthy  of  my  govern- 
ment." 

The  date  of  this  memorable  correspondence  was  about 
seventy  years  after  the  death  of  Christ.  "  We  have  herein," 
says  Mr.  Haldane,  "  a  public  and  authentic  attestation  to 
the  amazing  growth  of  the  Christian  religion,  which  had 
made  such  progress  in  the  remote  country  of  Bithynia,  that 
the  pagan  temples  were,  according  to  Pliny,  'almost  for- 
saken ; '  he  also  mentions  that  there  had  been  Christians  in 
that  country  twenty  years  before.  Their  blameless  lives, 
the  purity  of  their  religious  worship,  their  meeting  together 
on  a  certain  day,  their  adoration  of  Jesus  Christ  as  God, 
their  obedience  to  their  civil  rulers,  in  giving  up  what  they 
did  not  consider  to  be  enjoined  by  Divine  authority,  and 
their  fortitude  in  suffering,  and  steady  perseverance  in  thfe 
faith  of  Christ,  are  all  unequivocally  attested  by  their  per- 
secutors." 

The  Emperor  Hadrian  succeeded  his  kinsman  Trajan, 
A.  D.  117.  As  the  edict  of  Trajan  had  not  been  repealed, 
the  Christians  still  suffered  persecution  under  his  reign,  al- 
though he  issued  no  new  edict  against  them.  Upon  occa- 
sion, however,  of  the  Apologies  which  Quadratus  and  Aris- 
tides  presented  to  him  at  Athens,  in  the  year  128,  that  per- 
secution was  moderated.  Of  Aristides,  Jerome  says  :  "  He 
was  a  most  eloquent  Athenian. philosopher,  and  in  his  for- 
mer habit  he  presented  to  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  at  the  same 
time  with  Quadratus,  a  book  containing  an  account  of  our 


252  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

sect,  that  is,  an  Apology  for  the  Christians  which  is  still  ex- 
tant, a  monument  with  the  learned  of  his  ingenuity."  This 
Apology  is  now  lost.  To  Quadratus  was  ascribed  the  gift 
of  prophecy,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  "  a  disciple  of  the 
apostles."  The  following  is  all  that  remains  of  the  Apology 
which  he  presented  to  Hadrian :  "  The  works  of  the  Sa- 
viour were  always  conspicuous,  for  they  were  real,  both  they 
that  were  healed  and  they  that  were  raised  from  the  dead ; 
who  were  seen  not  only  when  they  were  healed  or  raised, 
but  for  a  long  time  afterwards ;  nor  only  whilst  he  dwelt 
upon  this  earth,  but  also  after  his  departure,  and  for  a  good 
while  after  it,  insomuch  that  some  of  them  have  reached  to 
our  times." 

"We  will  now  again  call  up  testimony  which  history  has 
preserved,  contributed  by  decided  enemies  of  the  Christian 
faith,  Porphyry  and  the  Emperor  Julian. 

Porphyry  was  a  pupil  of  Longinus,  who  flourished  in  the 
third  century.  He  wrote  a  book  against  the  Scriptures, 
which  was  burnt  in  the  following  century,  by  order  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  afterwards  by  that  of  Theodosius  the  Younger. 
He  admits  the  working  of  miracles  by  the  apostles,  but 
ascribes  them,  like  Celsus,  to  magical  arts.  This  was  the 
common  excuse  for  rejecting  the  Gospel,  supported  as  it 
was  by  these  wonders,  which  could  not  be  controverted. 
A  work  containing  such  objections  deserved  only  contempt, 
and  hardly  needed  the  edict  of  the  civil  power  for  its  sup- 
pression. It  was  already  fully  met  by  our  Lord's  reply  to  a 
similar  taunt:  If  Satan  sustain  the  cause  which  can  only 
prevail  by  his  overthrow,  how  shall  his  kingdom  stand  ? 

Julian,  A.  D.  361,  mentions  Paul  by  name,  and  treats 
of  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John.  While  he  speaks  con- 
temptuously of  Christ,  as  having  made  a  few  proselytes  from 
among  the  dregs  of  the  people,  and  as  not  having  been 
known  for  more  than  three  hundred  years,  he  admits  the 
cure  of  the  halt  and  the  blind,  and  the  exorcism  of  demo- 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  253 

niacs  at  Bethesda  and  Bethany.  His  whole  book  is  a  bitter 
invective  against  the  Christians.  He  admits  the  holy  life 
of  the  Christians,  and  holds  up  their  charity  to  imitation. 
Their  zeal,  their  fortitude,  their  pure  notions  of  religion 
receive  his  honorable  mention;  and  while  his  arguments 
against  the  Gospel  are  perfectly  harmless,  he  has  unde- 
signedly  borne  important  testimony  to  the  truth  of  many 
of  its  facts. 

How  complete  the  chain  of  evidence  that  has  been 
adduced!  Not  only  have  we  the  contemporaneous  narra- 
tives of  friends  ;  but  enemies,  Jews  and  Pagans,  the  Roman 
emperor  and  senate  and  Pilate,  the  very  judge  who  con- 
demned our  Lord,  all  bear  witness  that  there  was  such  a 
person  as  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  lived  at  the  time  the  Gos- 
pel relates,  that  he  wrought  miracles,  that  he  was  crucified, 
and  that  he  had  numerous  disciples  and  followers,  of  whose 
affairs  many  of  them  make  mention.  They  cannot  deny 
the  facts — are  forced  to  admit  that  miracles  were  wrought 
by  our  Lord,  and  can  only  allege  against  them  the  absurd 
cavil  that  has  been  noticed — that  they  were  the  result  of 
magic  arts. 

This  chain  of  evidence  might  be  greatly  lengthened; 
but  enough  has  been  given  to  warrant  the  "assertion  that 
Ancient  History,  as  far  as  it  extends,  is  a  witness  to  the 
truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  that  no  discovery  in  the  annals 
of  the  past  can  disturb  the  solid  masonry  of  fact  on  which 
it  rests.  I  will  only  add  a  brief  notice  of  two  most  inter- 
esting historical  monuments,  which  have  come  down  to  us 
from  the  very  times  of  the  New  Testament. 

On  what  was  the  Via  Sacra  in  ancient  Rome,  still 
stands  in  proud  decay  a  Triumphal  Arch  beneath  which,  it 
is  said,  no  Jew  will  pass,  though  it  spans  one  of  the  thor- 
oughfares of  the  city,  but  turns  from  it  in  silent  aversion. 

Of  this  majestic  ruin,  a  modern  traveller  says:  "The 
voice  of  the  sceptic  has  nothing  to  say  of  Him  with  whom 


254  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

is  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning."  But  the  very 
stones  do  speak.  Who  could  have  thought  that  Domitian, 
that  cruel  persecutor  of  the  Christians,  should  erect  an 
arch  which  should  confirm  for  ages  the  veracity  of  that 
God  whom  they  worshipped  ?  But  God  brings  to  nought 
the  wisdom  of  men. 

We  are  told  that  this  arch  of  triumph  was  erected  by 
Domitian  and  the  Roman  people  in  honor  of  Titus  for  his 
conquest  of  Jerusalem.  On  the  interior  are  two  bass-re- 
liefs. On  one  Titus  is  represented  borne  on  a  triumphal 
car,  which  Rome,  under  the  figure  of  a  woman,  conducts ; 
whilst  victory  crowns  the  conqueror.  On  the  opposite  side 
is  represented  the  triumphal  pomp  with  the  Jewish  spoils : 
first  the  prisoners ;  then  the  table  of  the  shewbread  with 
the  sacred  vessels ;  the  silver  trumpets ;  the  candlestick 
with  seven  branches ;  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which  the 
Roman  soldiers,  crowned  with  the  wreath  of  victory,  bear 
on  their  shoulders. 

"  Who  that  gazes  on  that  relic  of  Roman  grandeur  can 
avoid  recalling  the  sound  of  that  voice  which  once  said : 
'  Seest  thou  these  great  buildings  ?  there  shall  not  be  left 
one  stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down  ? ' " 

The  other  historical  monument  referred  to  as  having 
come  down  to  us  from  the  very  times  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  that  of  the  Jew  of  the  present  day,  bearing  as  he 
does  incontrovertible  evidence,  in  every  line  of  his  oriental 
features,  of  the  authenticity  of  his  descent  through  un- 
counted generations.  In  him  we  have  a  living  argument 
of  the  truth  of  divine  revelation ;  in  him  we  behold  a  literal 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  ;  with  him  may  we  ascend  the 
stream  of  time  until,  by  an  emanation  from  that  same  light 
which  was  to  his  nation  "  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  a 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,"  we  witness  the  division  of  the  sea ; 
the  angels?  food ;  the  rock  that  followed  them ;  the  opening 
of  the  earth  and  the  fire  from  heaven ;  the  parting  of  the 


ANCIENT   HISTORY.  255 

waters  of  Jordan  ;  the  walls  of  Jericho ;  the  sun  standing 
still  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon.  Their  whole  career  as  a 
people,  from  Egypt  down  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
by  Titus  and  their  final  dispersion,  is  full  of  wonders.  Yet, 
perhaps,  there  is  nothing  more  marvellous  in  their  history 
than  their  present  condition,  scattered  as  we  find  them 
through  almost  every  habitable  portion  of  the  globe. 
Eighteen  centuries  have  now  passed  away  since  they  ceased 
to  exist  as  a  state,  and  when,  according  to  the  ordinary 
laws  which  determine  such  events,  they  ought  to  have  dis- 
appeared among  the  mass  of  nations.  Their  oppressors, 
the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Syro-Macedonians 
and  Romans,  have  all  in  their  turn  long  ago  been  razed 
from  the  list  of  principalities  and  powers.  Since  the  ex- 
tinction of  their  polity,  the  Byzantine  empire  has  succeeded 
to  the  Roman  and  the  Mussulman  to  the  Byzantine  ;  Goths 
and  Vandals  have  expelled  the  ancient  settlers  of  more 
than  half  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  and  have  themselves 
been  succeeded  by  fresh  invaders ;  all  have  changed  again 
and  again  their  names,  laws,  dynasties,  character,  languages, 
and  religion.  Yet,  during  the  whole  of  that  immense  pe- 
riod, the  fallen  Jews,  without  a  home  or  a  government, 
unacknowledged  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  and  scarcely  tol- 
erated in  some,  hated  and  persecuted  by  all,  have  still  pre- 
served their  faith,  their  institutions,  their  exclusive  habits, 
and  their  numbers  entire.  How  shall  this  extraordinary 
vitality  be  explained,  except  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  prom- 
ise of  God  that  He  would  "  not  make  a  full  end  of  His 
people  " — that  He  "  would  not  destroy  them  utterly,"  and 
that  even  in  their  lowest  estate,  He  would  not  "  break  His 
covenant  with  them?*'  Truly  might  the  great  Conde 
have  said,  in  reply  to  certain  infidel  arguments,  that  ie  it 
was  perfectly  vain  to  assail  the  credibility  of  the  Christian 
revelation,  so  long  as  so  singular  a  miracle  as  that  of  the 
existing  Jewish  people  could  be  alleged  in  its  support." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

OBJECTIONS     AND     REPLIES. 

THE  opponents  of  Revelation  have  endeavored  to  in- 
validate the  authority  and  impugn  the  credibility  of  the 
sacred  writers,  by  the  charge  of  discrepancy  and  contradic- 
tion in  their  statements.  As  truth  is  one  and  must  always 
be  consistent  with  itself,  if  this  charge  could  be  substan- 
tiated, it  would  at  once  annul  the  claim  of  inspiration  for 
the  Bible.  When  we  apply  this  test  to  the  Koran  of  Ma- 
homet, we  find  that  its  pages  contain  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  palpable  contradictions,  admitted  even  by 
learned  Mussulmen,  who  account  for  them  by  saying  that 
in  all  these  instances  the  Almighty  changed  his  mind! 
But  of  the  numerous  alleged  contradictions  that  have  been 
brought  against  the  Bible,  it  may  safely  be  affirmed  that 
there  is  not  one  of  them  that  is  not  capable  of  a  rational 
solution.  Through  the  mistakes  of  transcribers,  errors 
no  doubt  at  times  crept  into  manuscripts  of  the  sacred 
writings,  before  the  invention  of  printing,  and  such  may 
also  be  found  in  printed  copies;  but  the  contradictions 
objected,  are  only  apparent,  not  real.  The  slightest  ex- 
amination will  show  that  the  greater  portion  of  these  are 
frivolous,  while  the  difficulties  of  th"e  remainder  will  vanish 
upon  a  more  profound  acquaintance  with  the  facts.  "It 
is  by  no  means  uncommon  "  (says  Professor  Lee),  "to  find 
in  the  accounts  of  two  perfectly  honest  historians  referring 
to  the  same  events  from  different  points  of  view,  certain 


OBJECTIONS    AND   REPLIES.  257 

peculiarities  in  the  structure  of  their  compositions,  which, 
when  noticed,  at  once  reconcile  the  seeming  variance  which 
such  peculiarities  may  have  occasioned  ;  or  some  fact  may 
have  been  omitted  which  lends  an  air  of  opposition  to  their 
statements — an  opposition  which  the  mention  of  the  omitted 
fact  by  a  third  writer  instantly  clears  up."  The  following 
solution  of  a  difficulty  in  ordinary  history,  together  with 
the  application  of  the  principle  on  which  it  rests,  to  a  paral- 
lel case  in  the  Evangelical  record,  will  amply  confirm  what 
has  just  been  stated. 

Aristobulus,  the  friend  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
who  watched  by  his  death  bed,  relates  that  he  died  on  the 
30th  of  the  Macedonian  month  Dsesius.  On  the  other  hand, 
Eumenes  and  Diodotus,  who  kept  the  journal  of  Alexander, 
and  who  recount  the  progress  of  his  malady,  place  his  death 
on  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  the  same  month.  Here  is  an 
obvious  variance  in  statement,  and  yet  no  critic  has  for 
a  moment  considered  that  there  is  any  real  contradiction, 
although  the  solutions  which  have  been  given  are  very  dif- 
ferent. Thus,  it  is  shown  by  some,  how  the  variance  will 
disappear  if  we  call  to  mind  the  manner  of  counting  the 
days  of  the  month  by  the  Greeks ;  while  the  explanation 
of  another  writer  is  founded  upon  the  difference  in  the 
point  of  time  from  which  the  beginning  of  the  day  was 
reckoned — whether  from  sunrise  as  at  Babylon,  or  from 
sunset  according  to  Grecian  usage.  Other  explanations 
are  also  supplied,  and  any  one  among  them  is  considered 
to  remove  every  appearance  of  contradiction.  The  history 
of  the  Gospel  harmony  supplies  an  example  exactly  parallel. 
The  case  is  one  of  peculiar  interest,  and  from  a  very  early 
period  it  has  presented  a  difficulty  to  Christian  apologists. 
I  allude  to  the  statements  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  John  as  to 
the  hour  of  Christ's  passion — "  a  question,"  says  St.  Augus- 
tine, "  which,  above  all  others,  is  wont  to  stir  up  the  shame- 
lessness  of  the  contentious,  and  to  disturb  the  nnskilfulness 


258  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  weak."  St.  Augustine  himself  proposed  two  methods 
whereby  the  accounts  might  be  reconciled ;  and,  while  ad- 
mitting the  difficulties  with  which  his  suggestions  were 
encumbered,  he  lays  down  the  principle  for  which  I  now 
contend.  Referring  to  a  supposed  objection  to  one  of 
his  solutions,  he  asks:  "If  we  both  alike  believe  the 
Evangelists,  do  you  point  out  how  their  accounts  can 
be  otherwise  reconciled,  and  I  will  acquiesce  most  cheer- 
fully ;  for  I  love  not  my  own  opinion,  but  the  truth  of  the- 
Gospel.  Until  some  other  explanation  is  discovered,  this 
of  mine  shall  suffice ;  and  when  that  other  is  demonstrated, 
I  too  will  adopt  it."  It  has  been  reserved  for  modern  times 
to  suggest  a  solution  which  has  been  almost  universally 
accepted,  and  which  removes  every  shade  of  difficulty  from 
the  case:  St.  Mark  asserts  that  our  Lord  was  crucified 
at  "  the  third  hour,"  or  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon ; 
while,  according  to  St.  John,  Pilate  "  about  the  sixth  hour  " 
was  still  sitting  in  judgment.  The  explanation  of  this  ap- 
parent discordance  in  time — an  explanation  which  even 
Strauss,  while  exaggerating  "  the  difficulty  "  to  the  utmost, 
allows  to  be  "  possible  " — is,  that  St.  John  has  given  the 
hour  according  to  the  Roman  calculation  of  time,  which 
counted,  as  we  do,  from  midnight;  while  St.  Mark  adheres 
to  the  Jewish  custom  of  counting  from  sunrise. 

And  thus  it  will  be  found  that,  in  all  the  apparent  dis- 
crepancies of  Scripture,  the  difficulty  arises  from  our  not 
having  the  clue  which  unites  the  different  statements.  As 
soon  as  that  is  obtained,  their  harmony  is  established. 

Another  sceptical  objection  is  founded  upon  the  alleged 
collision  between  the  statements  of  Scripture  and  those  of 
Profane  History.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  such  instances 
are  to  be  found,  but  what  can  be  more  unfair  than  to  take 
it  for  granted  that  the  sacred  narrative  must  be  necessarily 
false  ?  Did  a  tribunal  of  appeal  exist,  in  the  shape  of  au- 
thentic, reliable  records  of  those  times,  it  might  then  be 


OBJECTIONS   AND   REPLIES.  259 

satisfactorily  shown,  in  such  cases  of  contradiction,  on  which 
side  lay  the  error.  Without  such  a  tribunal,  when  proba- 
bilities are  weighed,  and  the  characters  of  the  writers  are 
considered,  the  truth  of  the  Biblical  statements  cannot  be 
successfully  impugned. 

The  following  are  instances  of  what  at  first  appeared 
to  be  historical  discrepancies,  but  in  which  subsequent  dis- 
covery has  vindicated  the  minute  accuracy  of  the  sacred 
writers. 

It  is  related  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings  (xx.  12),  and 
in  the  historical  chapters  of  Isaiah  (xxxix.  1),  that  Merodach 
Baladan,  king  of  Babylon,  sent  letters  and  a  present  to 
Hezekiah,  because  he  heard  that  he  had  been  sick.  As 
previous  to  the  publication  of  the  Chronicle  of  Eusebius 
in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  there  was  no  other  known 
record  of  such  a  monarch,  it  was  objected  that  he  was  a 
mythical  personage,  and  moreover  that  Babylon  at  that 
time  was  merely  a  dependent  province  of  the  Assyrian 
empire.  A  fragment  of  Berosus,  however,  preserved  in 
that  chronicle,  supplies  the  desired  information  and  re- 
moves all  the  difficulty.  We  learn  from  it  that  Merodach 
Baladan  was  an  usurper,  who  reigned  independently  at 
Babylon  for  six  months,  and  was  then  overthrown  by  Sen- 
nacherib. From  another  passage  of  the  same  Berosus,  it 
has  been  sought  to  disprove  the  historical  narrative  of 
Belshazzar  in  Daniel.  Berosus  makes  the  last  Babylonian 
monarch  absent  from  the  city  at  the  time  of  its  captivity  by 
the  Persians,  and  also  speaks  of  him  as  taken  prisoner  after- 
wards at  Bersippa,  and  as  then  not  slain,  but  treated  with 
much  kindness  by  Cyrus.  The  two  narratives  of  the  fall 
of  Babylon  were  thus  in  appearance  wholly  irreconcilable ; 
and  some  were  driven  to  suppose  two  falls  of  Babylon,  to 
escape  the  seeming  contrariety.  But  out  of  all  this  confu- 
sion and  uncertainty,  a  small  and  simple  but  most  important 
discovery,  which  was  made  by  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  from 


260  TESTIMONY   OF.  SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

documents  obtained  at  Mughur,  the  ancient  Ur  of  the  Chal- 
dees,  has  delivered  us.  From  these  he  learned  that  Nabo- 
nadius,  the  last  of  the  kings  of  Babylon,  associated  with 
himself  on  the  throne  during  the  later  years  of  his  reign  his 
son  Bel-shar-uzar,  and  allowed  him  the  royal  title.  That 
this  was  the  prince  who  conducted  the  defence  of  Babylon, 
and  who  was  slain  in  the  massacre  that  followed  upon  its 
capture,  cannot  be  doubted ;  while  his  father,  who  was  at 
the  time  in  Borsippa,  surrendered  and  experienced  the  clem- 
ency which  was  generally  shown  to  fallen  kings  by  the  Per- 
sians. Nor  is  this  all.  The  discovery  of  Belshazzar's  posi- 
tion as  joint-ruler  of  the  empire,  throws  light  upon  another 
passage  in  the  narrative  which  had  been  the  cause  of  some 
perplexity,  and  thus  imparts  additional  confirmation  to  its 
historical  credibility.  We  are  therein  told  that  Belshazzar 
promised  to  the  successful  interpreter  of  the  handwriting 
on  the  wall,  that  he  should  be  promoted  to  be  the  third 
ruler  in  the  kingdom.  Why  his  position  should  not  be  the 
same  as  it  seems  to  have  been  under  Nebuchadnezzar,  or  as 
that  of  Joseph  was  in  Egypt,  or  of  Mordecai  in  Persia,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  tell  until  the  above  discovery. 
But  as  there  were  two  joint  sovereigns  reigning  at  the  time, 
it  is  now  seen  that  the  reward  proffered  by  Belshazzar  was 
the  highest  position  tenable  by  a  subject. 

In  the  work  I  have  already  quoted,  Professor  Lee  gives 
a  remarkable  instance  of  the  minute  accuracy  of  St.  Luke, 
which  he  prefaces  "  by  a  parallel  example  illustrative  of  the 
apparent  contradictions  so  constantly  to  be  met  with  in  or- 
dinary history.  The  medals  struck  for  the  coronation  of 
Louis  XIV  give  a  different  day  from  that  which  all  con- 
temporary historians  agree  in  fixing  for  the  date  of  that 
event.  Of  all  these  writers,  one  only  has  noticed  a  circum- 
stance which  accounts  for  this  discrepancy,  for  he  alone 
mentions  that  the  coronation  had  been  appointed  to  take 
place  on  the  day  given  by  the  medals,  which  were  accord- 


OBJECTIONS   AND   REPLIES.  261 

ingly  prepared, — but  that  circumstances  caused  a  delay  till 
the  date  assigned  by  the  historians.  Nothing  can  be  more 
simple  than  this ;  and  yet,  in  a  thousand  years,  had  no  such 
explanation  been  given,  antiquarians  would  have  been  sadly 
perplexed  in  their  efforts  to  reconcile  the  contradiction. 
Let  us  now  turn  to  the  parallel  case  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  St.  Luke  in  the  thirteenth  chapter,  gives  the 
title  of  Proconsul  to  the  Governor  of  Cyprus.  In  the  divi- 
sion, however,  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  Augustus,  this 
island  had  been  reserved  for  his  own  jurisdiction,  and,  conse- 
quently, its  governor  must  have  borne  the  rank  of  procurator ; 
— that  of  proconsul  being  appropriated  to  those  who  ruled 
the  provinces  which  the  emperor  had  ceded  to  the  senate. 
The  title  here  assigned  by  St.  Luke  to  Sergius  Paulus  had 
for  a  long  time  perplexed  commentators,  who  knew  not  how 
to  reconcile  the  statement  of  the  sacred  historian  with  the 
assumed  facts  of  the  case.  Some  coins,  however,  were 
found  bearing  the  effigy  of  the  Emperor  Claudius ;  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  reverse  there  appears  the  word  KYIIPION, 
while  the  surrounding  legend  gives  the  title  in  question  of 
proconsul  to  an  individual  who  must  have  been  the  immedi- 
ate successor  or  predecessor  of  Sergius  Paulus.  In  addition 
to  this  evidence,  a  passage  has  been  pointed  out  in  the 
writings  of  Dion  Cassius,  who  mentions  that  Augustus,  sub- 
sequently to  his  original  settlement,  had  changed  Cyprus 
and  Gallia  Narbonensis  into  senatorial  provinces ;  the  his- 
torian adding,  as  if  with  the  design  of  establishing  St.  Luke's 
accuracy,  "  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  proconsuls  began  to 
be  sent  to  these  nations  also."  Had  the  writings  of  Dio 
Cassius  perished  amid  the  wreck  of  ancient  literature,  and 
the  coins  alluded  to  never  been  found,  we  should  unques- 
tionably have  seen  this  hypothetical  blunder  of  the  inspired 
historian  foremost  among  the  array  of  cases  adduced  by 
such  writers  as  Strauss.  Is  not  the  Christian  apologist, 
therefore,  fully  justified  in  deprecating  the  precipitancy  of 


262  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

criticism  ?  Has  he  not  ample  grounds  for  maintaining  that 
difficulties,  such  as  those  we  have  considered,  arise  from  our 
ignorance  of  the  whole  of  the  case ;  and  that  we  have  good 
reason  to  expect  that  they  will  eventually  disappear  as  sim- 
ilar evidence  accumulates. 

Equally  untenable  is  the  sceptical  objection  which  has 
been  drawn  from  the  silence  of  Profane  History  as  to  some 
of  the  facts  of  the  New  Testament.  Of  the  leading  and 
more  important  of  those  facts,  it  is  not  true ;  for  as  we 
have  seen,  they  are  abundantly  corroborated  in  the  pages* 
of  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  others.  For  the  omission  of 
some  others,  such  as  the  massacre  of  the  innocents  and  the 
supernatural  darkness  at  the  crucifixion,  a  sufficient  reply 
is  furnished  in  the  following  extract  from  the  recently  pub- 
lished diary  of  Varnhagen  von  Ense : 

"  Humboldt  confirms  the  opinion  I  have  more  than  once 
expressed,  that  too  much  must  not  be  inferred  from  the 
silence  of  authors.  He  adduces  three  important  and  per- 
fectly undeniable  facts,  as  to  which  one  finds  no  evidence 
in  places  where  one  would  naturally,  above  all  others,  ex- 
pect to  find  it.  In  the  records  of  Barcelona  there  is  not  a 
trace  of  the  triumphal  entry  made  by  Columbus ;  in  Marco 
Polo,  no  mention  of  the  great  wall  of  China ;  and  in  the 
archives  of  Portugal,  nothing  about  the  voyage  of  Ameri- 
go Vespucci  in  the  service  of  that  crown." — History  of  the 
Geography  of  the  New  World,  part  iv,  p.  160,  et  seq. 

To  this  it  may  be  added  that  Pliny  makes  no  mention 
whatever  of  the  destruction  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii 
— large  and  populous  cities.  Even  Tacitus  merely  glances 
at  the  event  in  these  words :  "  Haustse  aut  obruta3  urbes  " 
— cities  were  consumed  or  burned.  Suetonius  is  silent  as  to 
the  cities,  though  the  eruption  is  incidentally  mentioned. 
Martial  has  a  slight  allusion  to  them;  and  Dion  Cassius, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Pliny,  adverts  to 
the  traditional  account  of  them.  "  A  multitude  of  things," 


OBJECTIONS   AND   REPLIES.  263 

says  Montfaucon,  "  are  daily  found  out,  which  have  been 
hitherto  unobserved  and  not  mentioned  ;  such  as  the  tem- 
ple of  Mithras,  in  the  Viminal  vale,  of  which  not  one  word 
is  met  with  in  authors." 

The  weakness  and  fallacy  of  the  above  objections  having 
been  demonstrated,  let  us  proceed  to  examine  two  argu- 
ments in  behalf  of  the  historic  verity  and  divine  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  drawn  from  their  internal  evidence, 
which  cannot  fail  to  carry  irresistible  conviction  to  the 
mind  of  the  earnest  and  sincere  inquirer  after  truth. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  wonderful  unity  and  harmony 
of  design  which  is  found  in  the  Bible,  from  the  beginning 
of  Genesis  to  the  close  of  the  Apocalypse. 

The  absurdity  of  supposing  that  this  could  be  the  effect 
of  fraud  is  thus  strongly  urged  by  Mr.  Haldane.  He  says : 
"Let  any  set  of  men  combine  to  write  such  a  book  as  the 
Bible.  Let  their  plan  be  laid  so  as  to  extend  through  a 
period  of  fifteen  hundred  years.  Let  those  who  shall  first 
enter  upon  the  work  obtain  others  to  succeed  them  during 
that  space  of  time.  Let  them  write  history,  poetry,  the- 
ology, and  prophecies  concerning  the  state  of  the  world. 
Let  them  at  length  procure  some  one  to  come  forward  in 
whom  all  that  they  have  written  shall  find  its  accomplish- 
ment. Let  him  be  born  in  the  place  they  had  foretold,  of 
the  family  they  had  singled  out,  at  the  exact  period  they 
had  predicted.  Let  him  be  exhibited  in  the  most  critical 
situations,  in  the  midst  of  enlightened,  powerful,  and  de- 
termined adversaries,  while  they  still  uphold  him  as  perfect, 
and  defy  his  enemies  to  prove  the  contrary.  Let  his  own 
death  be  a  part  of  their  plan,  which  he  himself  shall  foretell. 
Let  a  number  of  persons  arise  immediately  afterwards  to 
carry  forward  the  design,  charge  the  government  under 
which  he  suffered  as  his  murderers,  affirm  that  he  is  alive, 
and  has  given  them  convincing  evidence  that  he  will  re- 
ward them  in  a  future  world.  Let  these  men  support  their 


264  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

doctrines  by  an  appeal  to  miracles  openly  performed  before 
enemies  armed  with  civil  power ;  and  let  them  adhere  to 
their  testimony  at  the  expense  of  life,  and  all  things  dear 
in  this  world.  Let  them  promulgate  a  new  religion  and 
code  of  laws,  completely  subversive  of  every  existing  re- 
ligion on  earth,  and  directly  opposed  to  the  indulgence  of 
the  strongest  propensities  of  the  human  heart.  Let  this  re- 
ligion, by  the  force  of  its  own  evidence,  win  its  way  through 
the  world,  overthrow  every  opposing  system,  extend  its 
triumphs,  and  finally  establish  itself  in  the  most  civilized 
nations,  in  spite  of  the  most  learned,  the  most  determined, 
and  the  most  powerful  adversaries ;  and  let  the  character 
of  the  leader,  as  set  forward  by  his  associates,  be  thus  vin- 
dicated as  4  the  light  of  the  nations.'  Who  does  not  see 
the  total  impracticability,  the  absolute  absurdity  of  such  an 
attempt  ?  As  soon  migiit  men  of  understanding  be  induced 
to  climb  up  to  the  stars,  as  to  propose  to  themselves  such  a 
scheme."  * 

Yet  all  this  is  the  true  and  wondrous  story  of  that  Book 
which  Christians  claim  to  be  from  God. 

The  Bible  contains  sixty-six  books,  to  the  composition  of 
which  thirty  different  persons  have  contributed.  These 
books  were  written  amidst  the  strangest  diversity  of  time, 
place,  and  condition, — among  the  sandy  deserts  of  Arabia, 
the  fields  and  hills  of  Palestine,  in  the  courts  of  the  Jewish 
Temple,  in  the  palace  of  Shushan,  in  the  dungeons  of  Rome, 
and  one  of  them  in  a  lonely  island  of  the  ^Egean  Sea. 
They  were  written  in  a  variety  of  forms, — in  history,  biog- 
raphy, and  parable;  proverbs,  poems,  and  letters.  They 
were  written  by  persons  occupying  various  conditions  in 
life — princes  and  peasants,  warriors  and  fishermen,  learned 
men  and  unlearned.  And  from  the  time  that  Moses  took 
his  pen  to  write  the  story  of  the  creation,  to  the  record  by 

i  Haldane's  Evidences  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii,  p.  486. 


OBJECTIONS   AND    REPLIES.  265 

St.  John  of  the  visions  which  he  saw  in  Patmos,  a  period 
of  fifteen  hundred  years  had  intervened. 

Under  such  circumstances,  collusion  and  preconcert  were 
utterly  impossible.  Yet  so  far  from  one  contradicting  what 
another  inculcates,  there  is  on  the  contrary  the  most  per- 
fect harmony.  Every  book  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments is  a  link  in  the  same  golden  chain.  They  are  one 
uniform  whole,  though  beginning  at  the  creation  and  ex- 
tending to  the  consummation  of  all  things.  "  As  in  Beetho- 
ven's matchless  music  there  runs  one  idea,  worked  out 
through  all  the  changes  of  measure  and  of  key ;  now  al- 
most hidden,  now  breaking  out  in  rich  natural  melody, 
whispered  in  the  treble,  murmured  in  the  bass,  dimly  sug- 
gested in  the  prelude,  but  growing  clearer  and  clearer  as 
the  work  proceeds,  winding  gradually  back  till  it  ends  in 
the  key  in  which  it  began,  and  closes  in  triumphant  har- 
mony ;  so  throughout  the  whole  Bible  there  runs  one 
great  idea:  man's  ruin  by  sin  and  his  redemption  by 
grace ;  in  a  word,  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour.  This  runs 
through  the  Old  Testament,  that  prelude  to  the  New; 
dimly  promised  at  the  fall,  and  more  clearly  to  Abraham ; 
typified  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  law;  all  the  events  of 
sacred  history  paving  the  way  for  his  coming ;  his  descent 
proved  in  the  genealogies  of  Ruth  and  Chronicles ;  spoken 
of  as  Shiloh  by  Jacob,  as  the  Star  by  Balaam,  as  the 
Prophet  by  Moses;  the  David  of  the  Psalms;  the  Re- 
deemer looked  for  by  Job ;  the  Beloved  of  the  Song  of 
Songs.  We  find  him  in  the  sublime  strains  of  the  lofty 
Isaiah,  in  the  writings  of  the  tender  Jeremiah,  in  the  mys- 
teries of  the  contemplative  Ezekiel,  in  the  visions  of  the 
beloved  Daniel,  the  great  idea  growing  clearer  and  clearer 
as  the  time  drew  on.  Then  the  full  harmony  broke  out  in 
the  song  of  the  angels :  '  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and 
on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men.'  And  evangelists 
and  apostles  taking  up  the  theme,  the  strain  closes  in  the 
12 


266  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

same  key  in  which  it  began — the  devil,  who  troubled  the 
first  paradise,  forever  excluded  from  the  second ;  man  re- 
stored to  the  favor  of  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  key-note 

of  the  whole." 

«• 
"  The  silver  sounding  instruments  did  meet 

With  the  base  murmur  of  the  water's  fall ; 
The  water's  fall  with  difference  discreet, 

Now  soft,  now  loud,  unto  the  wind  did  call ; 

The  gentle  warbling  wind  low  answered  to  all." — SPENSER. 

Does  not  this  wondrous  unison  make  it  evident  that  the 
Bible  must  have  had  its  origin  in  the  infinite  Mind  of  that 
God  who  sees  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  who  is  with- 
out variableness  or  shadow  of  turning — from  eternity  to 
eternity  the  same  ?  Truly  might  the  poet  ask : 

"  Whence  but  from  Heaven  could  men  unskill'd  in  arts, 
In  several  ages  born,  in  several  parts, 
Weave  such  agreeing  truths  ?  or  how,  or  why, 
Should  all  conspire  to  cheat  us  with  a  lie  ? 
Unask'd  their  pains,  ungrateful  their  advice, 
Starving  their  gain,  and  martyrdom  their  price." — DRTDEN. 

Another  argument  of  hardly  less  weight  has  been  drawn 
from  what  have  been  called  the  "  undesigned  coinci- 
dences "  of  the  Bible.  These,  it  has  been  said,  "  involve 
a  test  of  truth  which  is  acknowledged  almost  instinctively, 
by  the  human  mind,  and  which  every  day's  experience 
serves  to  strengthen  and  to  impress ;  a  test  which  advo- 
cates are  always  glad  to  seize  upon  and  to  urge  whenever 
they  have  it  in  their  power,  and  judges  and  juries  are  not 
less  ready  to  acknowledge ;  and  no  one  who  observes  the 
state  of  his  own  mind,  or  that  of  others,  in  the  reception  of 
evidence,  can  shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact,  how  much  more 
strongly  coincidences,  which  come  out  accidentally,  and 
are  free  from  all  suspicion  of  collusion,  prevail  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  fact,  than  the  most  exact  agreement  in  points, 


OBJECTIONS   AND   REPLIES.  267 

which  would  naturally  have  presented  themselves  before- 
hand, as  prominent  features  of  the  story,  and  necessary  to 
be  shaped  and  fitted  by  those  who  were  fabricating  a  false- 
hood." 

A  few  of  these  coincidences  gleaned  from  the  numerous 
collections  made  by  Paley  and  Blunt,  will  be  sufficient  to 
show  that  the  Bible  is  its  own  witness. 

Thus,  in  his  account  of  the  crucifixion,  St.  Matthew  tells 
us  that  "  the  soldiers  smote  Jesus  with  the  palms  of  their 
hands,  saying,  Prophesy  unto  us,  thou  Christ,  Who  is  he 
that  smote  thee?"  And  in  this  challenge  there  seems 
nothing  very  difficult.  There  is  apparently  neither  force 
nor  meaning  in  the  insult,  if  Christ  had  the  offender  before 
his  eyes.  But  when  we  learn  from  St.  Luke  (xxii.  64),  that 
"  the  men  that  held  Jesus  blindfolded  him  "  before  they 
asked  him  to  prophesy  who  it  was  that  smote  him,  we  dis- 
cover what  St.  Matthew  intended  to  communicate,  namely, 
that  they  proposed  this  test  of  his  divine  mission,  whether, 
without  the  use  of  sight,  he  could  tell  who  it  was  that  struck 
him. 

All  the  evangelists  agree  in  telling  that  when  the  high 
priest's  officers  came  out  to  arrest  Jesus,  Peter  drew  a 
sword,  and  smote  off  a  servant's  ear.  And  yet  both  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Mark  agree  in  relating,  that  when  Christ's 
persecutors  sought  all  sorts  of  evidences  against  Him,  so  as 
to  make  out  a  case  before  the  Roman  Governor,  they  could 
procure  none.  But  is  it  not  very  strange,  that  when  the 
high  priest  had  in  his  own  palace  such  a  striking  proof  of 
the  violent  character  and  dangerous  designs  of  these  Gali- 
leans, he  should  not  have  called  as  a  witness  his  own 
wounded  servant  ?  Had  we  possessed  no  information  be- 
yond the  narratives  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  this 
would  have  been  a  flagrant  difficulty.  You  say  that  "  the 
whole  effort  of  the  priests  was  to  prejudice  Pilate  against 
Jesus,  as  a  seditious  and  turbulent  character ;  but  they 


268  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

could  substantiate  nothing."  Why  was  not  this  recent  and 
conclusive  witness  forthcoming  ?  Especially,  when  Jesus 
said  to  Pilate,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world ;  if  my 
kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  figlit, 
that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews," — why  did 
none  of  his  accusers  reply,  "  Yes,  but  your  servants  did 
fight,  and  one  of  them  has  inflicted  a  wound  on  the  sacred 
person  of  the  high  priest's  servant"  ?  Now  had  we  possessed 
no  Gospels  except  these  two,  we  could  not  have  accounted 
for  so  strange  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  the  priestly  fac- 
tion. But  St.  Luke  mentions  a  circumstance  which  suffi- 
ciently explains  it.  From  his  account  we  find  that  as  soon 
as  Peter  smote  off  the  ear  Jesus  healed  it  again  ;  and  by 
doing  this  he  effectually  disqualified  the  wounded  servant 
from  appearing  as  a  witness  against  him.  The  priests  were 
in  this  dilemma.  If  next  morning  they  produced  the  ser- 
vant as  a  proof  of  the  violence  of  Christ  and  his  followers, 
how  could  Pilate  credit  them  ?  That  wound  was  never  in- 
flicted overnight,  or  it  could  not  be  healed  so  soon.  Or  if, 
to  explain  this  latter  circumstance,  they  acknowledged  that 
Christ  had  instantaneously  healed  it,  they  would  at  once 
have  trod  on  dangerous  ground,  and  would  have  given 
Pilate  another  reason  for  suspecting — what  he  was  already 
very  apt  to  surmise — the  supernatural  character  of  his 
prisoner. 

In  St.  Matthew  (viii.  16)  we  read,  that  "when  the  even 
was  come,  they  brought  unto  him  many  that  were  possessed 
with  devils,  and  he  cast  out  the  spirits  with  his  word,  and 
healed  all  that  were  sick."  But  why  was  it  evening  when 
they  brought  to  Jesus  these  demoniacs  and  sick  persons  ? 
From  St.  Mark  (i.  21-32),  we  find  that  it  was  the  Sabbath- 
day;  and  from  St.  Luke  (xiii.  14),  we  find  that  the  Jews 
thought  it  sinful  for  "  men  to  come  and  be  healed  on  the 
Sabbath-day."  But  we  also  know  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
ceased  at  sunset ;  so  that  when  the  evening  was  come  the 


OBJECTIONS   AND   EEPLIES.  269 

people  would  feel  no  scruple  in  bringing  their  afflicted 
friends  to  Jesus  to  be  healed.  But  observe  how  far  we 
have  to  travel  before  we  can  complete  Matthew's  simple 
statement.  He  merely  mentions  that  it  was  in  the  evening 
Jesus  wrought  these  cures;  and  had  we  possessed  Mat- 
thew's narrative  alone,  we  might  have  laid  no  particular 
stress  upon  the  time  of  day.  But  we  go  on  to  Mark,  and 
we  find  that  it  was  the  Sabbath  evening,  "  when  the  sun  was 
set."  And  we  go  on  to  Luke,  and  find,  though  in  a  totally 
different  connection,  that  these  Jews  would  have  thought  it 
very  wicked  to  carry  the  sick  or  to  accept  a  cure  on  the 
Sabbath. 

Again,  the  Evangelist  St.  John  tells  us  (vi.  5),  that  on 
one  occasion,  when  surrounded  by  a  weary  multitude, 
Jesus  said :  "  Whence  shall  we  buy  bread  that  these  may 
eat  ?  "  And  in  putting  this  question  he  addressed  himself 
to  Philip.  But  John  hints  no  reason  why  he  should  have 
put  this  inquiry  to  Philip  rather  than  to  any  other  apostle. 
Luke,  however,  mentions  (ix.  10)  that  the  place  was  a  desert 
near  to  Bethsaida ;  and  John  himself  happens  to  have  men- 
tioned, in  the  opening  of  his  Gospel  (i.  44),  that  Bethsaida 
was  the  city  of  Philip.  And  laying  these  three  insulated 
passages  together,  we  see  how  natural  it.  was  to  put  the 
question,  "Where  is  bread  to  be  bought?"  to  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  neighborhood.  Had  we  not  possessed 
St.  John's  Gospel,  we  should  never  have  known  that  such 
a  question  was  asked ;  and  had  we  not  possessed  St.  Luke's 
Gospel,  we  should  never  have  seen  the  special  propriety  of 
asking  it  of  Philip. 

Of  these  latent  harmonies  of  Holy  Scripture,  Dr.  James 
Hamilton  has  unanswerably  said :  "  It  is  just  because  the 
particulars  are  so  minute  that  the  coincidence  is  so  valuable. 
They  are  just  such  trifles  as  a  true  historian  is  apt  to  omit, 
and  just  such  trifles  that  a  fabricator  would  never  think  of 
applying.  These  delicate  agreements  of  one  evangelist 


270  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

with  another  show  that  their  story  is  an  extract  from  the 
Book  of  Truth, — a  leaf  from  the  volume  of  actual  occur- 
rences,— a  derivation  from  a  counterpart  original.  And 
though  all  coeval  literature  had  perished, — though  all  the 
external  confirmations  were  destroyed,— though  all  the 
monuments  of  antiquity  were  annihilated,  strong  in  its  in- 
trinsic truthfulness,  the  New  Testament  would  still  hold  its 
lofty  place — a  tower  of  self-sustaining  integrity.  And  though 
the  efforts  of  enmity  were  to  succeed  as  they  have  signally 
failed, — though  learned  hostility  were  to  undermine  its 
documentary  foundations,  and  blow  up  that  evidence  of 
manuscripts  and  early  versions  on  which  it  securely  reposes, 
so  finely  do  its  facts  fit  into  one  another,  so  strongly  are 
its  several  portions  clamped  together,  and  in  the  penetra- 
tion and  interfusion  through  all  its  parts  of  its  ultimate  in- 
spiring Authorship,  into  such  a  homogeneous  structure  has 
it  consolidated,  that  it  would  come  down  again  on  its  own 
basis,  shifted,  but  nowise  shattered.  Such  a  book  God  has 
made  the  Bible,  that,  whatever  theories  wax  popular, 
or  whatever  systems  explode,  "  the  Scripture  cannot  be 
broken." 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

SACKED  GEOGEAPHY — TOPOGEAPHICAL   ACCUEACY  OF  THE 
INSPIRED  WEITEES. 

u  Those  holy  fields 

Over  whose  acres  walk'd  those  blessed  feet, 
Which  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  were  nail'd 
For  our  advantage,  on  the  bitter  cross." — First  Part  K.  Henry  IV. 

"  The  pathways  of  Thy  land  are  little  changed 

Since  thou  wert  there ; 

The  busy  world  through  other  ways  has  ranged 
And  left  these  bare. 

"  The  rocky  path  still  climbs  the  glowing  steep 

Of  Olivet ; 

Though  rains  of  two  millenniums  wear  it  deep, 
Men  tread  it  yet. 

"  And  as  when  gazing,  Thou  didst  weep  o'er  them, 

From  height  to  height, 
The  white  roofs  of  discrown'd  Jerusalem 
Burst  on  our  sight. 

**  The  waves  have  washed  fresh  sands  upon  the  shore 

Of  Galilee ; 

But  chisell'd  in  the  hillsides  evermore 
Thy  paths  we  see. 

u  Man  has  not  changed  them  in  that  slumb'ring  land, 

Nor  time  effaced ; 

Where  Thy  feet  trod  to  bless,  we  still  may  stand ; 
All  can  be  traced."— TJie  Three  Wakings, 

MUCH  has  been  written  by  philosophic  historians  respect- 
ing the  correspondency  which  is  alleged  to  exist  between 
the  scenery,  the  features,  and  boundaries  of  countries  and 


272  TESTIMONY   OF  SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  national  characteristics  of  the  peoples  who  inhabit  them. 
And  in  the  case  of  nations  such  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
who  have  played  a  great  part  on  the  world's  stage,  it  is 
maintained  that  a  prophetic  forecast  of  their  destiny  can 
be  read  in  the  hills,  the  plains,  the  rivers  and  the  sens, 
which  cradled  and  fostered  their  birth  and  infancy.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  local  features  of  that  land,  which 
was  the  divinely  appointed  home  of  the  chosen  people  and 
the  cradle  of  a  faith  designed  to  be  universal.  "  No  one 
can  study  the  geography  of  Palestine  without  perceiving 
that  this  narrow  strip  of  territory  was  designed  by  Provi- 
dence for  some  important  purpose  in  the  history  of  man. 
At  the  head  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  gateway  of  Asia  for 
the  nations  of  the  west,  and  the  natural  outlet  of  the  great 
caravan  commerce  of  "Western  Asia  with  the  sea,  lying  in 
the  highway  of  all  ancient  trade  and  conquest,  the  very 
pivot  about  which  the  intercourse  of  nations  and  continents 
revolves,  it  is  yet  isolated  by  natural  causes  from  all  adja- 
cent countries  which  might  swallow  up  its  individuality. 
The  great  mountain  barrier  upon  the  north,  the  sea  upon 
the  west,  the  deep  crevasse  of  the  Ghor  and  the  Dead  Sea 
upon  the  east,  and  the  desert  also  to  the  east,  and  on  the 
south,  these  physical  characteristics  of  the  country,  stamp 
it  in  perpetuity  as  a  land  apart  from  all  lands — iitted  at  once 
to  be  the  theatre  of  great  events,  and  to  keep  their  un- 
changing record  upon  its  unchanging  features.  Those  fea- 
tures are  photographed  upon  every  page  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  original  remains  to  certify  the  fidelity  of  the  copy.  In- 
deed, there  seems  even  to  be  the  same  relation  of  the  Land 
and  the  Book  which  exists  between  the  two  revealed  econo- 
mies. In  order  to  the  complete  revelation  of  God  in  the 
incarnation  and  atonement  of  Christ,  it  was  necessary  that 
a  particular  people,  separated  for  this  end,  should  be  made 
familiar  with  theophanies,  with  prophetic  inspiration,  with 
miraculous  endowments,  sacrificial  offerings,  and  a  represent- 


SACKED   GEOGEAPHY.  273 

ative,  priestly  intercession,  and  should  thus  form  a  sacred 
language  as  the  groundwork  of  the  revelation  of  God  in 
Christ. — The  comparative  isolation  of  the  Jews  in  their  ter- 
ritory, and  their  complete  isolation  by  that  economy  and 
polity  which  were  given  to  them  by  Jehovah  before  their 
entrance  into  the  promised  land,  prepared  the  typical 
moulds  in  which  the  great  thoughts  of  Divine  love  and 
mercy  should  be  fully  conveyed  to  an  unbelieving  world. 
And  since,  as  compared  with  that  disclosure  of  God  which 
is  made  to  those  who  see  him  face  to  face,  the  Bible  is  but 
the  Pictorial  Primer  of  our  faith,  there  was  need  also  that 
its  symbols  and  illustrations  should  be  run  into  some  physi- 
cal mould  prepared  to  contain  so  much  of  spiritual  truth  as 
we,  in  this  period  of  childhood,  might  be  able  to  receive. 
What  were  the  Bible  to  man  without  its  Eden  and  Jerusa- 
lem ;  its  tree  of  life  forfeited  in  the  one,  restored  with 
perennial  fruitfulness  in  the  other  ?  What  were  the  incar- 
nation, had  not  the  human  life  of  Christ  been  circumscribed 
within  familiar  and  unchanging  scenes ; — Nazareth  and 
Bethany,  Gennesaret,  and  its  romantic  shores,  Jerusalem 
and  its  Temple  ?  What  were  the  impression  of  the  atone- 
ment itself,  had  it  been  enacted  in  some  spirit  world,  with- 
out the  visible  agony  of  the  garden,  and  the  Cross  lifted 
up  on  Calvary  ?  And  so  in  the  land  of  Palestine,  as  would 
hardly  be  possible  in  any  other  land,  there  existed  in  its 
physical  features  and  its  every-day  life,  materials  for  a  pic- 
torial alphabet  of  spiritual  truths ; — the  rock,  the  tower, 
the  fountain,  the  stream,  the  mountain,  the  forest,  the 
desert,  the  cave,  the  gulf,  the  sea,  the  shepherd,  the  watch- 
man, the  husbandman,  the  vinedresser,  the  robber,  and  the 
beast  of  prey,  whatever  could  furnish  a  similitude  for  a  re- 
ligious truth  or  duty,  compressed  into  a  little  territory,  and 
there  made  permanent  by  the  finger  and  the  providence  of 
God.  The  land  where  the  incarnate  Word  dwelt  with 
men,  is,  and  must  even  be,  an  integral  part  of  the  Divine 
12* 


274  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

Revelation.  Her  testimony  is  essential  to  the  chain  of  evi- 
dences, her  aid  invaluable  to  exposition.  The  very  hills 
and  mountains,  rocks,  rivers,  and  fountains  are  symbols 
and  pledges  of  things  far  better  than  themselves.  In  a 
word,  Palestine  is  one  vast  tablet  whereupon  God's  mes- 
sages to  men  have  been  drawn  and  graven  deep  in  living 
characters,  by  the  great  Publisher  of  glad  tidings,  to  be 
seen  and  read  of  ah1  to  the  end  of  time."  l 

The  value  of  this  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Bible 
will  be  perceived,  when  it  is  considered  that  romancers 
always  place  the  scene  of  their  fictions  in  a  distant  region 
or  a  departed  time ;  the  sacred  writers  recount  events  hap- 
pening in  their  own  country  and  during  the  period  of  their 
own  lives.  Impostors  avoid  details,  and  keep  to  general 
statements,  taking  care  to  introduce  no  names,  places  or 
distances,  which  might  serve  to  betray  the  fraud  and  pub- 
lish the  imposition.  But  the  Bible,  in  almost  every  chapter, 
stands  committed  on  all  these  points,  and  its  narratives  are 
accompanied  with  all  the  minute  circumstances  of  time, 
place,  situation,  habit,  etc.,  conveying  an  impression  of 
reality  beyond  the  reach  of  fiction.  Thus  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment we  read  that  it  was  "  between  Bethel  and  Hai," 
whence  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  can  be  seen,  that  Abra- 
ham parted  with  Lot,  and  it  was  from  the  heights  near 
Hebron  that  the  patriarch  beheld  the  smoke  denoting  the 
overthrow  of  the  cities  of  the  plain.  In  the  New  Testa- 
ment, it  was  as  our  Lord  was  "  coming  down  "  from  Cana 
to  Capernaum,  that  news  arrives  of  the  healing  of  the  no- 
bleman's son ;  it  was  on  the  road  from  Jericho  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  on  the  eve  of  a  memorable  Passover,  that  Bartimeus, 
the  blind  beggar,  the  son  of  Timeus,  is  restored  to  sight ; 
and  it  was  at  Bethany,  a  village  two  miles  from  the  capital, 
that  a  few  days  afterwards  Lazarus  is  recalled,  from  the 
tomb. 

1  The  substance  of  the  above  introductory  paragraph  is  from  Dr.  Thom- 
son's "  Land  and  the  Book." 


SACKED   GEOGEAPHY.  275 

These  are  a  few  of  innumerable  examples  that  might  be 
cited,  showing  the  fearlessness  with  which  the  sacred 
writers  commit  themselves  to  statements,  always  avoided 
in  Apocryphal  works,  and  which  could  be  so  readily  disproved 
if  untrue.  Yet  in  no  one  known  instance  has  geographical 
incorrectness  or  even  indistinctness  been  detected.  Each 
new  traveller  is  adding  fresh  confirmation  of  its  precision 
and  accuracy.  "It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck,"  says 
Canon  Stanley,  "  by  the  constant  agreement  between  the 
recorded  history  and  the  natural  geography  both  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament.  To  find  a  marked  correspond- 
ence between  the  scenes  of  the  Sinaitic  mountains  and  the 
events  of  the  Israelite  wanderings  is  not  much,  perhaps,  but 
it  is  certainly  something  towards  the  truth  of  the  whole 
narrative.  To  meet  in  the  Gospels  allusions,  transient  but 
yet  precise,  to  the  localities  of  Palestine,  inevitably  suggests 
the  conclusion  of  their  early  origin,  while  Palestine  was 
still  familiar  and  accessible,  while  the  events  themselves 
"were  still  recent  in  the  minds  of  the  writers.  The  detailed 
harmony  between  the  life  of  Joshua  and  the  various  scenes 
of  his  battles,  is  a  slight  but  a  true  indication  that  we  are 
dealing  not  with  shadows,  but  with  realities  of  flesh  and 
blood.  Such  coincidences  are  not  usually  found  in  fables, 
least  of  all  in  fables  of  Eastern  origin." 

During  the  last  half  century  this  interesting  department 
of  testimony  to  the  Bible  has  been  sedulously  cultivated, 
and  the  observations  of  intelligent  Eastern  travellers  have 
furnished  numerous  and  striking  confirmations  of  its  truths 
and  narratives.  "The  truth  is,"  says  a  learned  writer,1 
"the  Providence  of  God,  which  is  never  more  worthily  em- 
ployed than  about  his  Word,  seems  now  to  be  directing  the 
eyes  of  his  servants,  as  with  a  pointed  finger,  to  the  immense 
stores  of  elucidation  constantly  accumulating  from  this 
quarter.  Animated  either  by  the  noble  spirit  of  missionary 
1  Professor  Bush. 


276  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE, 

enterprise,  of  commercial  speculation,  of  military  adventure, 
or  laudable  curiosity,  men  of  intelligence  and  observation 
have  made  their  way  into  every  region  on  which  the  light 
of  revelation  originally  shone;  exploring  its  antiquities, 
mingling  with  its  inhabitants,  detailing  its  manners  and 
customs,  and  displaying  its  physical,  moral  and  political 
features.  From  these  expeditions  they  have  returned 
laden  with  the  rich  results  of  their  industry;  and  the 
labors  of  the  pen  and,  pencil  have  made  thousands  par- 
takers of  the  benefit. " 

A  selection  of  some  of  the  more  important  of  these 
"results"  gleaned  from  various  authentic  and  reliable 
sources,  will  occupy  the  remainder  of  the  present  chapter. 

MANNEKS  AND   CUSTOMS^ 

The  testimony  of  the  Land  to  the  Book  may  be  read  in 
the  existing  frame-work  of  manners  and  usages.  It  has 
been  beautifully  ordered,  *in  Divine  Providence,  that 
while  the  nations  of  the  West  are  notorious  for  per- 
petual fashion  and  change,  those  of  the  East  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  immutable  in  their  customs,  and  social  habits,  and 
arrangements.  The  Bedouin  tents  are  still  the  faithful 
reproduction  of  the  outward  life  of  the  patriarchs.  Dur- 
ing the  heat  of  the  day,  the  Sheik  of  the  tribe,  with  his 
flowing  robes  and  reverend  beard,  will  still  be  found,  as 
Abraham  in  the  plains  of  Mamre,  sitting  by  the  tent  door, 
ready  to  receive  the  stranger,  to  bring  him  a  little  water 
that  his  feet  may  be  washed,  to  break  bread  for  him,  and 
to  bid  him  tarry  for  the  night.  The  wandering  Arab  of 
the  desert  may  often  be  seen  laying  himself  down  after  sun- 
set on  his  bed  of  sand,  like  Jacob  in  the  wilderness  of  Pa- 
dan-aram,  with  a  stone  only  for  his  pillow.  At  the  well  are 
still  also  to  be  seen  the  troughs  for  the  camels,  the  stone  on 
the  well's  mouth,  and  the  camels  kneeling  with  their  bur- 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  277 

dens  and  waiting  patiently-  till  their  troughs  are  full.  The 
close  veil,  the  forehead  ornaments,  the  earrings,  the  anklets, 
the  burden  carried  on  the  head,  the  children  carried  on  the 
shoulder,  still  mark  the  Eastern  woman  as  in  the  days  of 
Isaiah.  Companies  of  Ishmaelites  still  come  from  Gilead, 
with  their  camels  and  dromedaries,  bearing  spicery  and 
balm  and  myrrh,  as  in  the  days  of  Reuben  and  Judah. 
The  description  of  Elijah  and  of  the  Baptist,  finds  a 
parallel  in  the  startling  appearances,  familiar  to  all  travel- 
lers in  those  lands,  of  the  strange  wild  figures,  who,  as  San- 
tons  or  Dervishes,  still  haunt  the  solitary  places  of  the  East, 
their  only  clothing  being  a  cloak  of  camel's  hair  thrown 
over  the  shoulders  and  a  girdle  of  skin  tied  round  the 
waist.  All  this  may  still  be  seen  among  the  pastoral  tribes 
of-  the  unchanging  Orient  : 

"  Where  the  lone  desert  rears  its  craggy  stone, 
Where  suns  unblest  their  angry  lustre  fling ; 
And  way-worn  pilgrims  seek  the  scanty  spring." 

BISHOP  HEBER'S  Palestine. 

The  vineyards,  the  corn  fields,  the  houses,  the  wells  of 
Syria,  moreover,  still  retain  the  outward  imagery  of  the 
teaching  of  Christ  and  his  apostles;  while  the  dress  of  the 
people,  the  customs  of  society,  the  idioms  of  thought,  the 
salutations  of  courtesy,  are  living  records  of  even  yet  re- 
moter times.  The  unmuzzled  ox  still  treads  out  the  corn 
as  in  the  most  distant  ages  of  the  past ;  shepherds  watch 
their  flocks  by  night,  while  the  sheep  know  their  voice  and 
follow  them  :  women  are  seen  grinding  at  the  mill,  and  still 
come  with  their  pitchers  and  talk  with  them  who  sit  by  the 
well.  The  beds  of  the  people  are  a  simple  mat  or  carpet, 
and  even  a  child  may  take  them  up  and  walk  ;  their  bottles 
are  of  leather ;  the  grass  is  cast  into  the  oven  ;  the  tombs 
are  inhabited ;  there  are  lodges  in  the  garden  of  cucum- 
bers ;  grass  grows  on  the  houses  ;  and  the  inhabitants  walk, 
sleep,  and  meditate  on  the  roofs  of  their  dwellings.  At 


278  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

night  the  gay  marriage  procession,  with  torches  and  music, 
may  often  be  seen  on  their  way  to  the  wedding  festival. 
The  mourners  also  go  about  the  streets  and  make  lamenta- 
tions for  the  dead.  "  At  every  step,"  says  Morier,  "  some 
object,  some  idiom,  some  dress,  or  some  custom  of  common 
life,  reminds  the  traveller  of  ancient  times ;  and  confirms 
above  all,  the  beauty,  the  accuracy,  the  propriety  of  the 
history  of  the  Bible." 


THE  FACE   OF   NATTJKE. 

The  natural  phenomena  and  features  of  the  country  also 
remain  the  same.  The  hills  still  stand  round  about  Jerusa- 
lem, as  in  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon.  The  dew  falls 
on  Hermon ;  the  cedars  grow  on  Libanus ;  and  Kishon, 
"  that  ancient  river,"  draws  its  streams  from  Tabor  as  in 
the  times  of  old.  The  sea  of  Tiberias  still  lies  imbedded 
bright  and  blue,  amid  the  hills  of  Galilee ;  the  fig  tree  springs 
up  by  the  wayside  ;  the  sycamore  spreads  its  branches ;  and 
the  vines  and  olives  still  climb  the  sides  of  the  mountains. 
The  wells  of  Elim  with  their  overshadowing  palm  trees  still 
refresh  the  weary  traveller  of  the  desert,  and  the  waters  of 
Marah  are  as  bitter  now  as  they  were  before  the  miracle  of 
healing.  Flocks  of  quails  from  some  unknown  region  still 
alight  in  the  desert,  and  from  the  top  of  Carmel,  the  cloud 
"  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,"  is  still  at  times  descried 
emerging  from  the  horizon,  as  seen  by  the  prophet,  and  al- 
ways heralds  the  coming  rain.  Abana  and  Pharpar  still 
water  and  fertilize  the  plain  of  Damascus  as  in  the  days  of 
Naaman,  and  the  swellings  of  Jordan  are  not  less  regular 
than  when  the  Hebrews  first  approached  its  banks.  The 
'brook  still  wanders  through  the  valley  of  Elah,  where  the 
Philistines  were  once  encamped,  and  which  supplied  the 
smooth  pebbles  for  the  sling  of  David.  Bashan  is  still  re- 
nowned for  its  oaks,  and  Sharon  for  its  roses.  The  willow 


SACKED   GEOGKAPHY.  279 

still  weeps  by  the  Euphrates  as  when  the  captives  of  Judah 
hung  upon  it  their  harps ;  the  pelican  and  the  bittern  are 
still  found  in  desert  places.  Mount  Tabor  still  overlooks 
the  fertile  plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  the  tribe  of  Issachar 
rejoiced  in  their  tents,  and  where  Barak  fought  and  dis- 
comfited Sisera  and  his  hosts.  Ebal  and  Gerizirn  still  guard 
the  vale  of  Shechem.  Pisgah  still  overlooks  the  land  of 
promise,  and  Sinai  frowns  in  awful  majesty  amid  its  desert 
solitude.  "  Among  all  the  stupendous  works  of  nature," 
says  Mr.  Stephens,  "  not  a  place  can  be  selected  more  fitted 
for  the  exhibition  of  Almighty  power." 

"Extraordinary  appearances,"  says  Chateaubriand,  in 
describing  Palestine,  "  every  where  proclaim  a  land  teem- 
ing with  miracles ;  the  burning  sun,  the  towering  eagle,  the 
barren  fig  tree  ;  all  the  poetry,  all  the  pictures  of  Scripture 
are  here.  Every  name  commemorates  a  mystery,  every 
grotto  proclaims  the  future,  every  hill  re-echoes  the  accents 
of  a  prophet.  God  himself  has  spoken  in  these  regions ; 
dried  up  rivers,  riven  rocks,  half  open  sepulchres  attest  the 
prodigy.  The  desert  still  appears  mute  with  terror,  and 
you  would  imagine  that  it  had  never  presumed  to  interrupt 
the  silence,  since  it  heard  the  awful  voice  of  the  Eternal." 

The  present  rocky  and  barren  appearance  of  the  greater 
part  of  Palestine,  at  first  sight  strikes  the  observer  as  con- 
tradictory to  the  inspired  description  of  it  as  "  a  land  flow- 
ing with  milk  and  honey, — the  glory  of  all  lands."  Upon 
examination,  however,  this  apparent  difficulty  vanishes,  or 
rather  yields  additional  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Bible. 

"  It  would  be  wrong,"  remarks  a  modern  traveller,  "  to 
argue  the  former  capabilities  of  the  Holy  Land  from  its 
present  appearance,  as  it  is  now  under  the  curse  of  God, 
and  its  general  barrenness  is  in  full  accordance  with  pro- 
phetic denunciation.  The  Israelite  in  our  street,  whose  ap- 
pearance was  delineated  with  graphic  precision  by  Moses  in 
the  fifteenth  century  before  Christ,  is  not  a  surer  evidence 


280  TESTIMCXNTY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  inspiration  of  the  holy  volume,  than  the  land  as  it 
now  exists,  cursed  as  it  is  in  all  its  products,  its  heaven  shut 
up,  and  comparatively  without  rain.  The  prophecies  con- 
cerning Canaan  are  numerous,  and  have  been  so  literally 
fulfilled  that  they  may  now  be  used  as  actual  history." — 
HAKDY'S  Notices  of  the  Holy  Land,  p.  283. 

Great,  however,  as  is  the  change  which  has  been 
wrought  in  the  appearance  of  Palestine,  there  are  not  want- 
ing indications  of  what  it  was  before  divine  judgments  made 
it  desolate,  and  of  what  it  may  again  become  when  those 
judgments  shall  be  removed.  "  Even  in  those  parts  where 
all  is  now  desolate,"  remarks  Dr.  Robinson,  "there  are 
everywhere  traces  of  the  hand  of  men  of  other  days.  .  .  . 
Most  of  the  hills,  indeed,  exhibit  the  remains  of  terraces 
built  up  around  them,  the  undoubted  signs  of  former  culti- 
vation." Again,  when  travelling  towards  Hebron,  he  ob- 
serves: "Many  of  the  former  terraces  along  the  hill  sides 
are  still  in  use ;  and  the  land  looks  somewhat,  as  it  may 
have  done  in  ancient  times."  "  There  are  elements  in  the 
land  of  Palestine,"  writes  Lieut.  Van  de  Velde,  "  for  the 
production  of  the  richest  abundance  of  useful  plants.  The 
ground  is  untilled  by  mortal  hands,  and  yet  what  a  profu- 
sion of  charms  does  nature  ofier  !  "  (He  is  speaking  of  the 
plain  of  Sharon.)  "  The  same  elements  are  to  be  found  ex- 
isting in  the  soil  elsewhere ;  but  there  the  land  is  inhabited 
— inhabited  by  a  race  of  men  whose  track  is  followed  by 
barbarism  and  desolation.  It  is  thus,  in  a  certain  sense,  a 
blessing  for  the  country  to  be  uninhabited.  It  will  have 
been  remarked,  perhaps,  that  the  want  of  water,  more  than 
any  other  cause,  makes  the  land  lie  dry  and  dead.  No  doubt, 
scarcity  of  water  is  the  immediate  cause  ;  but  in  the  days 
of  Israel's  prosperity  water  was  to  be  had  every  where  by 
means  of  wells  and  water  courses,  and  the  greater  cultiva- 
tion of  trees  at  once  increased  the  rain  and  diminished  the 
evaporation  from  the  ground.  Such,  however,  is  the  nat- 


SACRED   GEOGRAPHY.  281 

ural  disposition  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Palestine,  that 
with  all  this-want  of  water,  they  allow  the  wells  and  foun- 
tains that  existed  from  of  old  to  be  ruined  and  stopt  up,  and 
leave  the  water  courses  of  former  days  broken  down  and 
neglected.  And  all  this  that  God's  word  may  be  fulfilled^ 
and  God's  curse  upon  the  land  accomplished :  "  Then  shall 
the  land  enjoy  her  sabbaths,  as  long  as  it  lieth  desolate  .  .  . 
because  it  did  not  rest  in  your  sabbaths,  when  ye  dwelt 
upon  it." — Syria  and  Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  344. 

"  In  ages  past  all  glorious  was  the  land, 

And  lovely  were  thy  borders,  Palestine  ! 
The  heavens  were  wont  to  shed  their  influence  bland 

On  all  those  mountains  and  those  vales  of  thine  ; 

For  o'er  thy  coasts  resplendent  then  did  shine 
The  light  of  God's  approving  countenance, 

With  rapturous  glow  of  blessedness  divine, 
And  'neath  the  radiance  of  that  mighty  glance, 
Basked  the  wide-scattered  isles  o'er  ocean's  blue  expanse. 

"  But  there  survives  a  tinge  of  glory  yet, 

O'er  all  thy  pastures  and  thy  heights  of  green, 
Which,  though  the  lustre  of  thy  day  hath  set, 
Tells  of  the  joy  and  splendor  which  hath  been: 
So  some  proud  ruin,  'mid  the  desert  seen, 
By  traveller,  halting  on  his  path  awhile, 

Declares  how  once  beneath  the  light  serene 
Of  brief  posterity's  unclouded  smile, 
Uprose  in  grandeur  there  some  vast  imperial  pile." 

Lays  of  Palestine. 

Desolate  as  for  the  most  part  it  now  appears,  the  sacred 
soil  awaits  but  the  appointed  hour  (so  we  may  gather  from 
every  narrative)  to  sustain  its  millions  as  of  old ;  to  flow 
again  with  milk  and  honey  ;  to  become  once  more  "  a  land 
of  brooks  of  waters,  of  fountains  and  depths  that  spring 
out  of  valleys  and  hills ;  a  land  of  wheat  and  barley,  and 
vines,  and  fig-trees,  and  pomegranates,  and  of  oil  olive ; " 
and  to  resume  its  ancient  and  rightful  titles,  "  the  garden 
of  the  Lord,"  and  "  the  glory  of  all  lands." 


282  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

When  from  the  general  features  of  the  country,  we 
descend  to  the  minutest  topographical  details,  we  find  the 
same  marvellous  accuracy.  In  order  that  the  strength 
of  this  argument  may  be  more  fully  estimated,  I  propose 
to  select  the  more  prominent  and  interesting  localities  of 
sacred  history,  and  show  from  the  testimony  of  the  most 
learned  and  accomplished  travellers,  that  so  exact  is  the 
agreement,  that  the  Bible  may  be  said  to  be  written  on 
the  scenes  which  it  describes. 


THE  LAND    OF   GOSHEH. 

"  In  the  best  of  the  land  ...  in  the  land  of  Goshen  let  (the  Israelites) 
dwell  .  .  .  And  Joseph  placed  his  father  and  his  brethren  ...  hi  the 
land  of  Rameses,  as  Pharoah  had  commanded." — GEN.  xlvii.  6,  11. 

"  The  land  of  Goshen  lay  on  the  east  of  the  Delta,  and 
was  the  part  of  Egypt  nearest  Palestine ;  this  tract  is  now 
comprehended  in  the  modern  province  Esh-Shurkiyeh.  That 
the  land  of  Goshen  lay  upon  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  is  ap- 
parent from  the  circumstance  that  the  Israelites  practised 
irrigation ;  that  it  was  a  land  of  seed,  figs,  vines,  and  pome- 
granates ;  that  the  people  ate  of  fish  freely ;  while  the 
enumeration  of  the  articles  for  which  they  longed  in  the 
desert,  corresponds  remarkably  with  the  list  given  by  Mr. 
Lane  as  the  food  of  the  modern  fellahs.  '  We  remember 
the  fish  we  did  eat  in  Egypt  freely,  the  cucumbers,  and 
the  melons,  and  the  leeks,  and  the  onions,  and  the  garlic.' 
All  this  goes  to  show  that  the  Iraelites,  when  in  Egypt, 
lived  much  as  the  Egyptians  do  now,  and  that  the  land  of 
Goshen  probably  extended  further  west,  and  more  into 
the  Delta  than  has  usually  been  supposed.  They  would 
seem  to  have  lived  interspersed  among  the  Egyptians  of 
that  district,  perhaps  in  separate  villages.  .  .  .  This  appears 
from  the  circumstance  of  their  borrowing  'jewels  of  gold 
and  silver '  from  their  Egyptian  neighbors ;  and  also  from 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  283 

the  fact,  that  their  houses  were  to  be  marked  with  blood, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  distinguished  and  spared  in 
the  last  dread  plague  of  the  Egyptians.  The  immediate 
descendants  of  Jacob  were  doubtless  shepherds,  like  their 
forefathers,  dwelling  in  tents;  and  probably  drove  their 
flocks  for  pasture  far  up  in  the  valley  of  the  desert,  like 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  same  region.  Even  now 
there  is  a  colony  of  Arabs,  about  fifty  families,  living  (in 
those  parts),  who  cultivate  the  soil,  and  yet  dwell  in  tents. 
They  came  thither  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  acquired  such 
a  taste  for  the  good  things  of  Egypt,  that,  like  the  Israel- 
ites, they  could  not  live  in  the  desert.  The  land  of  Goshen 
was  '  the  best  of  the  land ; »  and  such  too  the  province  Esh- 
Shurkiyeh  has  ever  been,  down  to  the  present  time  (being 
now  famous  for  its  fertility).  There  are  here  more  flocks 
and  herds  than  anywhere  else  in  Egypt ;  and  also  more 
fishermen."— ROBINSON'S  Researches,  vol.  i,  pp.  76-79. 

ON — HELIOPOLIS. 

"  (Pharoah  gave  Joseph  to  wife)  Asenath,  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah, 
priest  of  On." — GEN.  xli.  45. 

"  The  ride  from  Cairo  to  Heliopolis,  the  On  of  Scrip- 
ture, is  delightful ;  the  first  part  is  across  the  skirt  of  the 
desert.  .  .  .  Farther  on,  the  road  lies  through  green  fields 
and  shady  avenues  of  acacia  trees,  and  the  whole  air  is 
redolent  of  the  delicious  perfumes  of  bean  blossoms,  and 
alive  with  the  hum  of  wild  bees.  The  '  land  of  Goshen '  is 
opening  upon  you,  and  its  actual  aspect  bears  out  the 
ancient  renown  for  pastoral  fertility,  which  caused  it  to  be 
conceded  by  Pharoah  as  an  abode  to  Jacob  and  his  sons, 
when  Joseph  persuaded  them  to  leave  their  own  country, 
and  to  bring  their  flocks  and  herds  with  them,  that  they 
might  dwell  near  him  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  I  cannot  de- 
scribe the  deep  and  reverential  interest  with  which  one 


284  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

treads  the  ground  rendered  sacred  by  its  associations  with 
Bible  history ;  and  while  the  imagination  of  the  traveller 
is  carried  back  to  the  days  of  the  patriarchs,  and  fancy 
peoples  the  land  with  the  venerable  forms  of  Joseph's  kin- 
dred; no  pert  innovation  of  modern  times,  in  the  shape  of 
recent  civilization,  is  visible,  to  dispel  the  momentary  illu- 
sion. The  swarthy  Arab,  with  turbaned  head  and  naked 
limbs,  laboriously  irrigates  his  fields  by  means  of  the  primi- 
tive shadoof;  the  patient  ox,  unmuzzled,  treads  out  the 
corn ;  and  long  strings  of  camels  and  asses  bear  home  loads 
of  green  provender,  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
days  of  the  pastor  patriarchs. 

"  No  vestige  of  the  ancient  On  remains,  except  an  obe- 
lisk sixty-five  feet  high,  of  a  far  less  beautiful  description 
than  those  of  Luxor  and  Karnae,  the  sole  remaining  one 
(with  the  exception  of  Cleopatra's  Needle),  now  to  be  seen 
in  Lower  Egypt.  The  cartouches  upon  its  four  sides  show 
it  to  have  been  erected  by  Osirtasen,  the  Pharaoh  of  Joseph ; 
and  as  some  indications  formerly  existed  of  an  avenue  of 
sphinxes  leading  from  it,  and  part  of  a  sphinx  was  lately 
found  there,  most  probably  this  solitary  obelisk  formed  one 
of  the  pair  which  stood  before  the  entrance  of  the  celebrated 
Temple  of  the  Sun,  at  Heliopolis.  ...  I  in  vain  looked 
around  me  for  some  other  trace  of  the  famous  city  where 
Joseph  dwelt,  and  where  Moses  became  '  learned  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians.'  All  is  now  on  a  level  blank, 
and  the  words  of  prophecy  have  been  illustrated  to  the  let- 
ter in  On,  as  in  Noph  and  No, — the  pomp  of  Egypt  is 
destroyed,  and  she  is  destitute  of  that  of  which  she  was 
full."— MRS.  HOMER'S  Temples  and  Tombs  of  Egypt. 


SACKED   GEOGEAPHY.  285 


ZOAN   OE  TANIS. 

"  Marvellous  things  did  he  in  the  sight  of  their  fathers  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  in  the  field  of  Zoan."— PSALM  Ixxviii.  12. 

"  We  landed  at  the  village  of  San,  anciently  called  Tanis, 
and  in  Scripture  Zoan,  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  the 
world.  The  fine  alluvial  plain  around  was  no  doubt  c  the 
field  of  Zoan,'  where  God  did  marvellous  things  in  the  days 
of  Moses.  We  pitched  our  tents  upon  the  bank,  to  shelter 
ourselves  from  the  rays  of  an  almost  vertical  sun,  while  the 
wild  Arabs  came  round,  some  to  gaze  upon  the  strangers, 
and  some  to  offer  old  coins  and  small  images  for  sale.  In 
the  cool  of  the  day  we  wandered  forth,  and  Mr.  Bonar, 
passing  over  some  heaps  of  rubbish  a  few  minutes'  walk 
from  the  village,  started  a  fox  from  its  lair.  Following 
after  it,  he  found  himself  among  low  hills  of  alluvial  matter, 
full  of  fragments  of  pottery,  while  beyond  these  lay  several 
heaps  of  large  stones,  which  on  a  nearer  inspection  he  found 
to  be  broken  obelisks,  and  ruins  of  what  may  have  been 
ancient  temples,  the  relics  of  a  glory  that  is  departed ;  but 
darkness  came  on,  and  obliged  him  to  return  to  the  tent. 
It  was  a  very  lovely  moonlight  night,  and  very  pleasant  it 
was  to  unite  in  prayer  and  in  singing  psalms  amid  the  wild 
Arabs,  in  the  very  region  where  God  had  wrought  so  many 
wonders,  long  ago.  We  read  over  Isaiah  xix.,  '  The  burden 
of  Egypt,'  in  our  tent,  and  when  we  looked  out  on  the  paltry 
mud  village  of  San,  with  its  wretched  inhabitants,  we  saw 
God's  word  fulfilled  before  our  eyes.  '  Surely  the  princes 
of  Zoan  are  fools.  .  .  .  Where  are  they  ?  Where  are 

thy  wise  men?'     Isa.  xix.  11,  13 At  sunrise 

next  morning  we  took  a  full  survey  of  all  that  now  remains 
of  ancient  Zoan.  We  found  that  the  large  mounds  of  allu- 
vial matter  which  cover  the  ruins  of  brick  and  pottery,  ex- 
tend about  two  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  one  mile  and  a 


286  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

half  from  north  to  south.  The  whole  country  round  ap- 
peared to  be  covered,  not  with  sand,  but  with  soil  that 
might  be  cultivated  to  the  utmost  if  there  was  water.  The 
most  remarkable  relics  of  this  ancient  city  lie  at  the  western 
extremity.  We  came  upon  immense  blocks  of  red  granite 
lying  in  a  heap.  All  had  been  hewn,  some  were  carved, 
and  some  were  still  lying  regularly  placed  one  above  another. 
Here  probably  stood  the  greatest  temple  of  Zoan,  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  an  open  square  round  it.  Possibly,  also, 
a  stream  flowed  through  the  very  midst  of  the  city,  for  at 
present  there  is  the  dry  channel  of  a  torrent.  Farther  to 
the  north  we  found  ten  or"  twelve  obelisks,  fallen  and  pros- 
trate, and  two  sphinxes,  broken  and  half  sunk  in  the  ground. 
Among  the  mounds  we  could  clearly  trace  buildings  of 
brick,  the  bricks  still  retaining  their  original  place.  The 
remains  of  pottery,  however,  were  most  remarkable,  con- 
sisting of  jars  of  the  ancient  form  without  number,  all  bro- 
ken into  fragments,  many  of  them  bearing  the  clearest 
marks  of  the  action  of  fire,  showing  that  God  has  literally 
fulfilled  the  word  of  the  prophet,  '  I  will  set  fire  in  Zoan.' " 
Ezek.  xxx.  14. — Mission  to  the  Jews. 


THE  PASSAGE   OF   THE   BED   SEA. 

"  And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea ;  and  the  Lord  caused 
the  sea  to  go  back  by  a  strong  east  wind  all  that  night,  and  made  the  sea 
dry  land,  and  the  waters  were  divided.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went 
into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upon  the  dry  ground  :  and  the  waters  were  a  wall 
unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their  left." — EXODUS  xiv.  21,  22. 

No  part  of  Holy  Scripture,  probably,  has  been  more  a 
source  of  cavil  to  the  sceptic  than  the  account  of  the  passage 
of  the  Red  Sea  by  the  Israelites,  and  not  a  few  Christian 
writers  even,  have  endeavored  to  explain  away  its  miracu- 
lous character.  To  those,  however,  who  are  willing  to  re- 
ceive the  literal  statements  of  the  inspired  narrative,  it  is 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  287 

gratifying  to  know  that  the  geographical  features  of  that 
wonderful  event  can  still  be  identified. 

"It  has  always  been  our  opinion,"  says  Dr.  Kitto, 
"  confirmed  more  and  more  by  the  results  of  progressive 
inquiry,  that  the  passage  was  effected  a  few  miles  below 
the  town  of  Suez,  across  the  sea  itself,  where  it  is  about  ten 
miles  in  width.  How  could  the  Israelites  have  been  *  en- 
tangled in  the  land,'  so  as  to  become  an  easy  prey  to  their 
pursuers,  if  they  had  only  a  narrow  and  fordable  frith  be- 
fore them  ?  Whence  the  consternation  and  distress  of  the 
Israelites  ?  How  could  the  waters  be  4  a  walV  unto  them 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  so  as  to  justify  the  ex- 
pression, *  the  waters  stood  upright  as  an  heap,  and  the 
depths  were  congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea.'  Why  the 
triumphant  song  of  Moses  at  the  miraculous  overthrow  of 
the  Egyptians,  if  this  was  occasioned  mainly  by  the  regular 
return  of  tidal  waters  ?  '  The  dukes  of  Edom  shall  be 
amazed;  the  mighty  men  of  Moab,  trembling  shall  take 
hold  of  them ;  all  the  inhabitants  of  Canaan  shall  melt  away 
with  fear.'  And  why  ?  Because  the  Israelites  went  at  low 
water,  over  a  narrow  pass,  in  safety,  as  is  customary  to  this 
day,  and  the  Egyptians  in  pursuit  were  drowned  by  the  re- 
turning tide ! 

"  To  obviate  these  objections,  the  children  of  Israel  are 
supposed  to  have  turned  their  course  from  Etham,  and 
passed  either  in  a  circuitous  route  around  the  Attakah, 
which  rises  '  lofty  and  dark,'  in  a  bold  bluff,  from  the  west- 
ern shore  below  Suez,  or  else  directly  down  the  coast,  pass- 
ing between  this  head  land  and  the  sea.  This  mountain  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  Baal-Zephon  of  the  Exodus,  and 
the  valley  on  the  south  of  it  Pi-hahiroth.  A  German  writer, 
Von  Raumer,  in  an  able  and  laborious  work  on  Scripture 
Geography,  supposes  them  to  have  made  their  final  exit 
from  the  south-western  border  of  Goshen,  near  Cairo,  and 
to  have  pursued  their  course  to  the  sea  through  a  valley, 


288  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE   TO  THE   BIBLE. 

still  called  the  Valley  of  Wandering,  south  of  a  chain  of 
mountains  which  runs  from  Cairo  eastward,  and  terminates 
in  the  Attakah.  According  to  this  theory,  Rameses  was 
near  the  present  Cairo ;  Succoth  and  Etham  were  in  the 
valley ;  and  Migdol,  the  Deraj,  a  lofty  mountain  south  of 
Attakah. 

"Here  they  would  be  beset  with  dangers  on  every  side. 
On  the  right  a  wide  waste  of  mountains  and  desert ;  on  the 
left  the  impassable  Attakah ;  before  them  the  sea ;  and  be- 
hind them  the  Egyptians  in  "eager  pursuit,  with  a  regular 
military  force,  and  six  hundred  chariots  of  war.  On  the 
supposition  that  the  waters  were  divided  by  the  direct  and 
immediate  power  of  Jehovah,  the  Israelites  could  have 
eight  or  ten  hours  to  make  their  way  through  the  channel 
opened  to  them  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence,  a  space  am- 
ply sufficient  for  a  march  of  about  ten  miles.  An  escape  so 
miraculous,  through  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  the  fearful 
overthrow  of  Pharaoh  and  his  hosts,  might  indeed  strike 
'  the  dukes  of  Edom '  and  the  surrounding  nations,  far  and 
near,  with  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  and  a  dread  of  his  people." 

THE   WELLS   OF   MOSES. 

The  first  spot  where  the  Israelites  probably  encamped 
after  their  passage,  was  that  which  is  still  called  the  "  Wells 
of  Moses." 

"  We  rode  in  the  clear  moonlight  to  the  Wells  of  Moses, 
where  our  tents  were  ready  for  our  reception.  (Here)  we 
read  the  song  of  Moses  and  of  the  children  of  Israel,  with 
feelings  and  emotions  such  as  we  had  never  before  expe- 
rienced. 

"  (Next  morning),  before  assembling  for  breakfast,  we 
particularly  examined  the  wells,  in  the  midst  of  which  we 
were  encamped.  They  rise  in  mounts  elevated  a  little  above 
the  level  of  the  neighborhood,  and  less  than  a  couple  of 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  289 


jfcniles  inland.  .  .  .  Only  one  of  them  appeared  to  be  regu- 
\arly  dug  and  built.  ...  The  others,  six  in  number  at  pres- 
ent, are  nothing  more  than  fountains  rising  in  small  basins 
iormed  in  the  sands.  .  .  .  The  supply  of  water  is  considera- 
ole." — WILSON'S  Lands  of  the  Bible. 

"  I  am  much  inclined  to  think  that  Ayun  Mousa  is  really 
the  spot  on  which  the  foot  of  rescued  Israel  rested,  and 
from  which  they  beheld  their  enemies  dead  on  the  sea 
shore.  ...  I  am  persuaded  .  .  .  that  the  people  of  Israel 
entered  their  pathway  just  to  the  north  of  Has  Attakah, 
and  that  they  passed  straight  onward  to  Ayun  Mousa." — 
FISK'S  Pastor's  Memorial. 


MARAH. 

"  And  when  they  came  to  Marah,  they  could  not  drink  of  the  waters  of 
Marah,  for  they  were  bitter :  therefore  the  name  of  it  was  called  Marah " 
(or  bitterness). — EXODUS  xv.  23. 

From  the  Red  Sea,  Moses  led  the  people  into  the  wil- 
derness of  Shur.  Many  parts  of  the  great  Arabian  desert 
were  called  by  the  name  of  distinct  wildernesses ;  such  as 
the  Wilderness  of  Shur,  into  which  they  now  went  out. 
They  continued  their  march  for  three  days  in  a  south-east- 
erly direction,  along  the  coast,  through  sterile  and  hilly 
parts.  They  appear  to  have  suffered  much  from  want  of 
water  during  those  three  days  ;  and  when  at  length  it  was 
discovered,  it  proved  bitter  or  brackish. 

"  We  came  to  the  'Ain  Howarah,  the  c  well  of  destruc- 
tion,' a  fountain  on  a  small  knoll  close  to  the  track  which 
we  were  pursuing.  It  occupies  a  small  basin,  about  five 
feet  in  diameter,  and  eighteen  inches  deep,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent it  oozes  through  the  sands,  leaving,  like  the  wells  of 
Moses,  a  deposit  of  lime.  The  Arabs,  on  observing  me 
about  to  drink  of  the  water,  exclaimed,  'It  is  bitter,  bitter, 
bitter ! ' 

13 


290  TESTIMONY   OF  SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

"  This  fountain  has  been  almost  universally  admitted  by 
travellers  since  the  days  of  Burkhardt,  to  be  the  true  Marah 
of  Scripture,  as  it  is  found  in  a  situation  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  place  where  the  Israelites  must  have  landed  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  a  space  sufficient  for  their 
march,  when  they  were  three  days  in  the  wilderness  and 
found  no  water.  No  other  constant  spring  is  found  in  the 
intermediate  space.  It  retains  its  ancient  character,  and 
has  a  bad  name  among  the  Arabs,  who  seldom  allow  their 
camels  to  partake  of  it."— WILSON'S  Lands  of  the  Bible. 


ELTM. 

"  And  they  came  to  Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells  of  water,  and  three 
score  and  ten  palm  trees ;  and  they  encamped  there  by  the  waters." — EX- 
ODUS xv.  27. 

About  eight  or  nine  miles  south  by  east  from  the  'Ain 
Howarah  is  the  Wady  Ghurandel,  generally  believed  to  be 
identical  with  the  Elim  of  Scripture,  where  the  Israelites 
encamped.  It  is  described  by  recent  travellers  as  "  a  grace- 
fully undulated,  sandy  territory,  scattered  over  with  thick 
clumps  of  the  tamarisk  tree  and  small  palms,  which  give  it 
the  appearance  of  an  ornamental  plantation."  Dr.  Shaw 
discovered  here  nine  wells,  and  supposed  the  other  three  to 
have  been  filled  up  by  drifts  of  sand  so  common  in  Arabia. 
Burckhardt  says,  "The  non-existence  of  twelve  wells  at 
Ghurandel  must  not  be  considered  as  evidence  against  the 
foregoing  conjecture,  for  Niebuhr  says  that  his  companions 
obtained  water  here  by  digging  to  a  very  great  depth,  and 
there  was  a  great  plenty  of  it  when  I  passed ;  water,  in 
fact,  is  readily  found  by  digging  in  every  valley  in  Arabia, 
and  wells  are  thus  easily  formed,  which  are  as  quickly  filled 
up  again  by  the  sands." 


SACKED    GEOGRAPHY.  291 


MOUNT  SINAI. 

"...  And  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a  smoke,  because  the  Lord 
descended  upon  it  in  fire ;  and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the  smoke 
of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount  quaked  greatly." — EXODUS  xix.  18. 

"  On  a'sudden  a  broad  quadrangular  plain,  but  of  much 
greater  length  than  breadth,  lay  before  us.  It  is  bounded 
at  its  farthest  extremity  by  a  mountain  of  surpassing  height, 
grandeur,  and  terror ;  and  this  was  the  very  *  Mount  of 
God,'  where  He  stood  when  He  descended  in  fire,  and 
where  rested  the  cloud  of  His  glory,  from  which  He  spake 
4  all  the  words  of  the  law.'  The  plain  itself  was  the  Wadi, 
or  Rahah,  the  Valley  of  Rest,  where  stood  the  whole  con- 
gregation of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Israel,  when  gather- 
ed together  before  the  Lord.  As  of  old,  the  everlasting 
mountains,  by  which  it  was  bounded  on  every  side,  were 
the  walls,  and  the  expanse  of  Heaven  itself,  the  canopy,  of 
this  great  temple.  Entered  within  its  courts,  so  sacred  in 
its  associations,  we  felt  for  a  time  the  curiosity  of  the  trav- 
eller lost  in  the  reverance  and  awe  of  the  worshipper.  We 
walked  through  the  valley  of  Rahah,  occasionally  stopping 
to  survey  the  interesting  scene  around  us. 

"  The  mountain  is  of  deep  red  granite.  It  rises  from  the 
plain  almost  perpendicularly  about  1,500  feet.  From  the 
monks  it  receives  the  name  of  Horeb,  which  in  Hebrew 
means  '  dry,  desert,  and  desolation.'  The  Mount  of  Moses 
( Jebel  Musa)  was  not  visible.  It  is  not,  however,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  a  distinct  mountain,  but  only  the  highest  peak  of 
this  one,  at  the  parts  most  remote  from  the  valley.  Round- 
ing the  eastern  corner  of  Horeb  .  .  .  we  had  a  narrow  de- 
file before  us  called  'The  valley  of  Jethro.'" — WILSON'S 
Lands  of  the  JJible. 

"I  made  the  ascent  of  Mount  Sinai.  .  .  .  As  to  the  pre- 
cise pinnacle  of  the  Sinaite  group  from  which  the  law  was 


292  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

given  to  Moses,  I  must  frankly  confess  that  it  would  only 
be  a  choice  of  conjectures,  or  a  balance  of  probabilities. 
That  it  was  indeed  the  Sinaite  group  which  invited  my 
footsteps,  there  could  be  no  doubt.  Not  a  particle  was 
there  of  this  wilderness  of  granite  that  had  not  quaked  at 
the  mysterious  and  awful  presence  of  Jehovah :  not  one 
of  its  numberless  clefts  and  caverns,  in  which  was  not  heard 
and  echoed  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  which  sounded  long 
and  waxed  louder  and  louder.  And  was  there  not  enough 
...  in  this  certainty  ?  .  .  .  Scripture  withholds  all  but 
the  general  certainty  to  which  I  have  referred.  ...  I 
retired — still  gazing  on  the  venerable  and  solemn  scene, 
and  read,  with  a  humbled  heart,  the  law  as  written  by  the 
finger  of  God  upon  the  two  tables  of  stone."— -FisK's  Pas- 
tor's Memorial. 

"  How  sternly  desolate !  the  Deity, 

Methinks,  has  fix'd  upon  that  awful  height 
His  grandest  signature  of  majesty, 

And  chronicled  his  Godhead's  changeless  might. 
And  as  the  tempest,  in  its  lurid  path, 

Sweeps  over  thee  unheeded,  we  behold 
Fit  emblem  of  that  throne,  which  earthly  wrath 

And  change  affect  not,  resting,  as  of  old, 
Upon  the  strong  foundations ;  truth  sublime, 
And  wisdom  infinite,  and  power  unchang'd  by  time. 

"  Still  thou  art  holy.     God's  appointed  throne, 

Where  mortal  man  held  audience  with  Him. 
Here,  lightning-girt,  his  high  pavilion  shone, 

Here  his  own  thunder  roll'd  its  awful  hymn. 
Here,  while  unutterable  awe  did  thrill 

The  souls  of  Israel's  breathless  multitude, 
As  if  the  heart  of  that  great  host  grew  still 

In  one  concentred  pulse  ;  the  prophet  stood 
Commission'd  to  receive  the  laws  of  heaven, 
For  man's  instruction,  strength,  and  guidance  given." 

REV.  J.  W.  BROWN. 


SACKED   GEOGEAPHY.  293 


THE    WILDEENESS 

"  And  thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led 
thee  these  forty  years  in  the  wilderness." — DEUT.  viii.  2. 

"  The  general  name  by  which  the  Hebrews  called  c  the 
wilderness,'  including  always  that  of  Sinai,  was  '  the  pas- 
ture.' Bare  as  the  surface  of  the  Desert  is,  yet  the  thin 
clothing  of  vegetation,  which  is  seldom  entirely  withdrawn, 
especially  the  aromatic  shrubs  on  the  high  hill  sides,  fur- 
nish sufficient  sustenance  for  the  herds  of  the  six  thousand 
Bedouins  who  constitute  the  present  population  of  the 
Peninsula. 

'  Along  the  mountain  ledges  green, 
The  scatter'd  sheep  at  will  may  glean 

The  Desert's  spicy  stores.' — KEBLE. 

"  So  were  they  seen  following  the  daughters  or  the  shep- 
herd-slaves of  Jethro.  So  may  they  be  seen  climbing  the 
rocks,  or  gathered  round  the  pools  and  springs  of  the  val- 
leys, under  the  charge  of  the  black-veiled  Bedouin  women 
of  the  present  day.  And  in  the  Tiyaha,  To  war  a,  or  Alouin 
tribes,  with  their  chiefs  and  followers,  their  dress  and  man- 
ners, and  habitations,  we  probably  see  the  likeness  of  the 
Midianites,  the  Amalekites,  and  the  Israelites  themselves 
in  this  their  earliest  stage  of  existence.  The  long  straight 
lines  of  black  tents  which  cluster  round  the«Desert  springs, 
present  to  us  on  a  small  scale  the  image  of  the  vast  encamp- 
ment gathered  round  the  one  Sacred  Tent,  which  with  its 
covering  of  dyed  skins,  stood  conspicuous  in  the  midst,  and 
which  recalled  the  period  of  their  nomadic  life  long  after 
their  settlement  in  Palestine.  The  deserted  villages — 
marked  by  rude  enclosures  of  stone,  are  doubtless  such 
as  those  to  which  the  Hebrew  wanderers  gave  the  name 
of  'Hazeroth,'  and  which  afterwards  furnished  the  type 
of  the  primitive  sanctuary  at  Shiloh.  The  rude  burial- 


294  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

grounds,  with  the  many  nameless  head  stones,  far  away 
from  human  habitation,  are  such  as  the  host  of  Israel  must 
have  left  behind  them  at  the  different  stages  of  their  prog- 
ress— at  Massah,  at  Sinai,  at  Kibroth-hattaavah,  'the 
graves  of  desire.'  The  salutations  of  the  chiefs,  in  their 
bright  scarlet  robes,  the  one  '  going  out  to  meet  the  other,' 
the  *  obeisance,'  the  'kiss'  on  each  side  the  head,  the 
silent  entrance  into  the  tent  for  consultation,  are  all  graphi- 
cally described  in  the  encounter  between  Moses  and  Jethro. 
The  constitution  of  the  tribes,  with  the  subordinate  degrees 
of  sheikhs,  recommended  by  Jethro  to  Moses,  is  the  very 
same  which  still  exists  amongst  those  who  are  possibly  his 
lineal  descendants — the  gentle  race  of  the  Towara." — STAN- 
LEY'S Sinai  and  Palestine. 


THE  APPEOACH  TO   PALESTINE. 

• 

"Everything  told  us  that  we  were  approaching  the 
sacred  frontier.  That  wide  plain  with  its  ruins  and  walls 
was  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba ;  with  wells  such  as  those 
for  which  Abraham  and  Isaac  struggled ;  at  which,  it  may 
be,  they  had  watered  their  flocks ;  the  neutral  ground  be- 
tween the  Desert  and  the  cultivated  region  which  those 
shepherd  patriarchs  would  most  naturally  choose  for  their 
wanderings,  before  the  idea  of  a  more  permanent  home 
had  yet  dawned  upon  them.  That  long  line  of  hills  was 
the  beginning  of  'the  hill  country  of  Judea,'  and  when 
we  began  to  ascend  it,  the  first  answer  to  our  inquiries 
after  the  route  told  that  it  was  '  Carmel,'  not  the  more 
famous  mountain  of  that  name,  but  that  on  which  Nabal 
fed  his  flocks :  and,  close  below  its  long  ranges,  was  the 
hill  and  ruin  of  '  Ziph ; '  close  above,  the  hill  of  '  Maon.' 
That  is  to  say,  we  were  now  in  the  heart  of  the  wild  coun- 
try where  David  wandered  from  Saul  like  those  very  '  par- 
tridges in  the  mountains,'  which  we  saw  abounding  in  ah1 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  295 

directions.  .  .  .  And  to  the  east,  towering  high  into  the 
hazy  sky,  what  looked  like  the  Alps  of  Moab ;  and  between 
us  and  them  a  jagged  line  of  lower  hills,  the  rocks  of  En- 
gedi ;  and,  in  the  misty  depths  which  parted  these  nearer 
and  those  further  mountains,  there  needed  no  guide  to  tell 
that  there  lay,  invisible  as  yet,  the  Dead  Sea." — Sinai  and 
Palestine. 

BEEESHEBA. 

"  So  Abraham  returned  unto  his  young  men ;  and  they  rose  up,  and 
went  together  to  Beersheba ;  and  Abraham  dwelt  at  Beersheba." — GEN. 
xxii.  19. 

This  ancient  settlement  was  on  the  southern  limits  of 
Judah  and  Palestine.  Hence  the  phrase,  "  from  Dan  (in  the 
extreme  north)  to  Beersheba  "  (in  the  extreme  south),  to  de- 
scribe the  whole  extent  of  the  land.  It  was  a  favorite  sta- 
tion of  Abraham,  and  occurs  so  often  in  the  history  of  the 
patriarchs,  that  much  interest  had  long  been  felt  in  it,  al- 
though its  site  had  been  forgotten,  and  no  traces  of  its 
existence  were  known  until  it  was  discovered  by  Dr.  Rob- 
inson. 

Upon  coming  up  from  the  desert  so  graphically  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Stanley,  he  soon  reached  a  wide  water- 
course, or  bed  of  a  torrent.  Upon  its  northern  side,  close 
upon  the  bank,  he  found  two  deep  wells,  still  called  Bir-es- 
sheba.  The  water  was  sweet  and  abundant,  and  flocks 
were  gathering  round  them  to  drink.  On  some  low  hills  a 
little  to  the  north,  he  found  ruins  indicative  of  a  consider- 
able village  in  the  remote  days  of  its  prosperity. 

"  Here  then,"  says  Dr.  Robinson,  "  is  the  place  where 
the  patriarchs  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  dwelt !  Here 
Abraham  dug  perhaps  this  very  well ;  and  journeyed  from 
hence  with  Isaac  to  Mount  Moriah  to  offer  him  up  there  in. 
sacrifice.  From  this  place  Jacob  fled  to  Padan-Aram  after 
acquiring  the  birthright  and  blessing  belonging  to  his 


296  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

brother ;  and  here  too  he  sacrificed  to  the  Lord,  on  setting 
off  to  see  his  son  Joseph  in  Egypt.  Here  'Samuel  made 
his  sons  judges;  arid  from  here  Elijah  wandered  out  into 
the  southern  desert,  and  sat  down  under  a  shrub  of  Retem, 
just  as  our  Arabs  sat  down  under  it  every  day  and  every 
night.  Over  these  smiling  hills  the  flocks  of  the  patriarchs 
once  roved  by  thousands,  where  now  we  found  only  a  few 
camels,  asses,  and  goats," — Biblical  Researches. 

HEBRON. 

"  Abraham  buried  Sarah  his  wife  in  the  cave  of  the  field  of 
Machpelah  before  Mamre  :  the  same  is  Hebron  in  the  land  of  Canaan." — 
GEN.  xxiii.  19. 

This  venerable  city  stands  second  to  Jerusalem  alone,  in 
high  and  sacred  associations.  "  It  was  the  earliest  seat  of 
civilized  life,"  says  Mr.  Stanley,  "  not  only  of  Judah  but  of 
Palestine.  It  was  the  ancient  city  of  Ephron  the  Hittite, 
in  whose  c  gate '  he  and  the  elders  received  the  offer  of 
Abraham,  when  as  yet  no  other  fixed  habitation  of  man 
was  known  in  Central  Palestine.  It  was  the  first  home  of 
Abraham  and  the  patriarchs ;  their  one  permanent  resting 
place  when  they  were  gradually  exchanging  the  pastoral 
for  the  agricultural  life.  It  was  the  city  of  Arba — the  old 
Canaanite  chief,  with  his  three  giant  sons,  under  whose 
walls  the  trembling  spies  stole  through  the  land  by  the 
adjacent  valley  of  Eshcol.  Here  Caleb  chose  his  portion, 
and  gave  it  the  new  name  of  Hebron,  when  at  the  head  of 
his  valiant  tribe  he  drove  out  the  old  inhabitants,  and 
called  the  whole  surrounding  territory  after  his  own  name ; 
and  there,  under  David,  and  at  a  later  period  under  Absa- 
lom, the  tribe  of  Judah  always  rallied  when  it  asserted  its 
independent  existence  against  the  rest  of  the  Israelite 
nation.  It  needs  but  few  words  to  give  the  secret  of  this 
early  selection,  of  this  long  continuance  of  the  metropolitan 
city  of  Judah.  Every  traveller  from  the  desert  will  have 


SACKED    GEOGRAPHY.  297 

been  struck  by  the  sight  of  that  green  vale,  with  its  or- 
chards and  vineyards,  and  numberless  wells,  and  in  earlier 
times  we  must  add  the  grove  of  terebinths  or  oaks,  which 
then  attracted  from  far  the  eye  of  the  wandering  tribes. 
This  fertility  was  in  part  owing  to  its  elevation  into  the 
cooler  and  the  more  watered  region,  above  the  dry  and 
withered  valleys  of  the  rest  of  Juda3a.  Commanding  this 
fertile  valley,  rose  Hebron  on  its  crested  hill.  Beneath 
was  the  burial  place  of  the  founders  of  their  race.  Caleb 
must  have  marked  out  the  spot  for  his  own,  when  with  the 
spies  he  had  passed  through  this  very  valley.  When 
David  returned  from  the  chase  of  the  Amalekite  plunderers 
on  the  desert  frontier,  and  doubted  '  to  which  of  the  cities 
of  Judah  he  should  go  up '  from  the  wilderness,  the  natu- 
ral features  of  the  place,  as  well  as  the  oracle  of  God, 
answered  clearly  and  distinctly,  *  unto  Hebron.'  " — Sinai 
and  Palestine. 

The  present  town  of  Hebron  is  described  by  travellers 
as  lying  low  down  on  the  sloping  sides  of  a  narrow  valley 
(Mamre),  chiefly  on  the  eastern  side,  but  in  the  southern 
part  stretches  across  also  to  the  western  side.  The  houses 
are  all  of  stone,  high  and  well  built,  with  windows  and  flat 
roofs,  and  on  these  roofs  -are  small  domes,  sometimes  two 
or  three  to  each  house.  "  No  city  in  Palestine,"  says  Dr. 
Thomson,  "  so  carries  one  back  to  the  earliest  patriarchal 
times.  Manners,  customs,  modes  of  action,  and  even 
idioms  of  speech  have  changed  but  little  from  what  they 
were  when  Abraham  dwelt  here."  An  aged  oak  or  tere- 
binth in  the  adjacent  plain  of  Mamre,  where  the  patriarch's 
tent  was  often  pitched,  is  still  called  Abraham's  tree.  The 
valley  through  which  leads  the  road  to  Jerusalem  is  gener- 
ally considered  to  be  the  Eshcol  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  character  of  its  fruits  still  corresponds  to  its  ancient 
celebrity.  The  largest  and  best  grapes  of  Palestine  are 
still  produced  there.  In  Hebron  itself  two  ancient  pools 
13* 


298  TESTIMOltfY   OP   SCIENCE  TO  THE   BIBLE. 

are  still  to  be  seen,  one  of  which  is  supposed  to  be  referred 
to  (2  Sam.  iv.  12)  as  the  place  where  David  hung  up  the 
murderers  of  his  rival  Ishbosheth. 

That,  however,  which  imparts  to  Hebron  its  highest  in- 
terest is  a  massive  structure  entitled  the  Haram  or  Sacred 
Place,  and  which  is  honored  by  Moslems,  Jews,  and  Chris- 
tians alike  as  the  Tomb  of  the  Patriarchs.  It  is  described 
by  Dr.  Robinson  as  "  a  large  and  lofty  building  ....  The 
walls  are  built  of  very  large  stones,  all  bevelled  and  hewn 
smooth,  and  similar  in  all  respects  to  the  most  ancient 
parts  of  the  walls  around  the  Haram  at  Jerusalem  .  .  .  • 
There  are  no  windows  in  any  part  of  these  walls.  The 
places  of  entrance  are  at  the  two  northern  corners,  where 
a  long  and  broad  flight  of  steps,  of  very  gentle  ascent, 
built  up  and  covered  along  each  side  of  the  building  exter- 
nally, leads  to  a  door  in  each  wall  opening  into  the  court 
within."  .  ..."  I  know  of  nothing,"  says  that  eminent 
traveller,  "  that  should  lead  us  to  question  the  correctness 
of  the  tradition  which  regards  this  as  the  place  of  sepul- 
ture of  Abraham  and  the  other  patriarchs  as  recorded  in 
the  book  of  Genesis.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  much  to 
strengthen  it.  Josephus  relates  that  Abraham  and  his 
descendants  erected  monuments  over  the  sepulchres  in 
question,  which  implies,  at  least,  that  in  his  day  the  place 
was  marked  by  some  ancient  memorial.  In  another  pas- 
sage he  says  expressly  that  the  sepulchres  of  the  patriarchs 
were  still  to  be  seen  in  Hebron,  built  of  marble  and  of 
elegant  workmanship.  In  the  days  of  Eusebius  and  Je- 
rome, the  monument  of  Abraham  was  yet  pointed  out; 
and  the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim,  in  A.  D.  333,  describes  it  as  a 
quadrangle,  built  of  stones  of  admirable  beauty  ....  It 
appears  to  me,  we  may  rest  with  confidence  in  the  view 
that  this  remarkable  external  structure  of  the  Haram  is 
indeed  the  work  of  Jewish  hands,  erected,  long  before  the 
destruction  of  the  nation,  around  the  sepulchre  of  their 


SACKED   GEOGEAPHY.  299 

% 

revered  progenitors,  '  the  friend  of  God,'  and  his  descend- 
ants. The  cave  of  Machpelah  is  described  in  Scripture  as 
at  the  '  end  of  the  field,'  over  against  Mamre,  the  same  is 
Hebron ;  and  all  the  later  writers  above  quoted  speak  of 
the  sepulchre  of  the  patriarchs,  as  at  or  in  Hebron,  not 
near  it.  Here,  then,  the  4  Father  of  the  faithful,'  as  also 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  rested  from  their  wanderings." — biblical 
Researches. 

The  following  observations  of  another  traveller  upon 
this  vicinity  bring  out  other  Biblical  associations  :  "  From 
Hebron  we  climbed  a  steep  terraced  hill.  At  the  top  was 
a  grove  of  fine  old  fig-trees,  reminding  one  of  the  groves 
which  crowned  the  '  high  places '  in  ancient  days.  The 
view  from  this  was  rich  and  beautiful,  and  might  be  taken 
as  some  faint  likeness  of  what  it  must  have  been  in  David's 
time,  when  the  industrious  Jews  had  entered  on  the  olive 
gardens  and  vineyards  of  that  earlier  race,  which,  with  all 
its  crimes  and  savage  idolatries,  must  have  possessed  ele- 
ments of  material  civilization  lost  to  the  lawless  Arab  peas- 
ants who  people  the  land  now.  The  royal  city  lay  be- 
low us,  not  far  off,  in  the  luxuriant  plain,  from  a  centre  in 
the  valley  radiating  up  three  separate  hills.  Its  white 
roofs,  domes,  and  airy  minarets,  and  especially  the  great 
mosque  over  Machpelah,  blended  beautifully  with  the  olives, 
vines,  and  figs  which  surrounded  them.  Around  was  the 
lovely,  rich  Plain  of  Mamre,  and  beyond,  cornfields  were 
still  golden  on  the  lower  uplands. 

"  Again,  a  night  under  the  shelter  of  Abraham's  oak, 
and  in  the  morning  once  more  across  the  hill  country  of 
Judea  on  the  way  back  by  Bethlehem  and  Jerusalem. 

"  The  especial  interest  of  this  day's  journey  was  that  it 
lay  through  the  heart  of  the  scenery  of  David's  Psalms. 
The  rocks  and  hill-fortresses,  the  « thousand  hills,'  and  the 
quiet  valleys,  the  green  pastures  by  the  still  waters,  the 
wild  caves  and  ravines  of  the  shadow  of  death,  amidst 


300  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

which  we  journeyed  this  day,  were  precisely  those  which 
have  from  our  earliest  childhood  been  made  allegorical  to 
us  by  the  inspired  poetry  of  the  shepherd  king." — Wander- 
ings in  Bible  Lands. 


THE   LAND    OF   THE   PHILISTINES. 

"  And  Abraham  sojourned  in  the  Philistines'  land  many  days." — GENESIS 
xxi.  34.  "  Woe  unto  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea-coast,  the  nation  of  the 
Cherethites  !  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  against  you  ;  0  Canaan,  the  land  of 
the  Philistines,  I  will  even  destroy  thee,  that  there  shall  be  no  inhabitant. 
And  the  sea-coast  shall  be  dwellings  and  cottages  for  shepherds  and  folds 
for  flocks." — ZEPHANIAH  ii.  5. 

The  land  of  the  Philistines  was  a  narrow  strip  of  terri- 
tory lying  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  west  and 
southwest  of  Judeea.  The  Philistines  appear  to  have  been 
a  colony  of  foreign  settlers,  who,  at  some  remote  period, 
had  crossed  the  sea  from  Asia  Minor  or  Crete.  The  name 
"  Cherethites"  is  given  them  by  the  prophets,  and  imported 
their  strange  worship  of  Dagon,  the  Fish-god,  a  divinity 
unknown  to  the  other  tribes  of  Canaan.  As  early  as  the 
time  of  Abraham  they  had  become  a  powerful  people. 
When  the  Israelites  were  on  their  way  to  the  Promised 
Land,  it  is  recorded  that  "  God  led  them  not  through  the 
way  of  the  Philistines,  although  that  was  near ;  for  God 
said,  Lest  peradventure  the  people  repent  when  they  see 
war,  and  they  return  to  Egypt."  The  Philistines,  however, 
were  not  of  the  Canaanite  races,  doomed  to  extirpation. 
They  were  left,  we  are  told,  to  teach  Israel  war,  and  for  a 
trial  of  the  faithfulness  and  obedience  of  the  chosen  people, 
whom,  for  their  sins  and  idolatry,  they  were  often  permitted 
to  chastise. 

The  localities  of  the  interesting  events  associated  with 
this  mutual  warfare,  may  now  be  traced.  The  rough  moun- 
tain-road by  which  Samson  "went  down"  from  the  hill 


SACKED    8EOGRAPHY.  301 

forts  of  his  natiye  Dan  into  the  "  low  country"  beneath, 
— the  tangled  thickets  close  to  the  vineyards  where  the 
young  lion  in  the  path  roared  against  him, — the  waving 
wheat-fields  on  the  level  interspersed  with  olives  and  vines, 
which  he  set  on  fire,  are  all  there,  and  the  wild  animals  he 
made  use  of  as  living  fire-brands,  still  infest  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  caves  which  exist  in  the  lime-stone  cliifs  around 
give  an  idea  of  his  place  of  retreat  in  "  the  top  of  the  rock 
Etam,"  as  well  as  of  David's  sojourn,  in  the  same  locality, 
in  the  cave  of  Adullam.  There  amid  the  palm  trees  and 
gardens  of  pomegranates  and  mulberry,  which  surround  the 
ruins  of  what  once  was  Gaza,  was  the  scene  of  Samson's 
later  deeds  and  of  his  fall.  There,  too,  he  drew  down  upon 
himself  and  the  pride  of  Philistia,  in  its  hour  of  insolent  tri- 
umph, the  temple  of  Dagon  ;  so  that  "  the  dead  which  he 
slew  at  his  death  were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his 
life." 

The  present  state  of  Philistia  could  not  be  expressed 
more  truly  and  forcibly  than  in  the  very  words  spoken  as 
prophecy  five  hundred  years  before  the  coming  of  our  Lord. 
..."  Thou,  whole  Palestina,  art  dissolved ! "  It  is  em- 
phatically a  land  of  ruins,  and  both  the  villages  and  their 
inhabitants  are  poor  and  wretched. 

Of  the  once  famous  Gath,  the  birthplace  of  Goliath  and 
his  giant  brethren,  not  a  vestige  remains.  A  probable  site 
has  been  assigned  for  it  by  Dr.  Robinson,  but  it  has  been 
literally  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Amos  vi.  2. 

"  Nor  has  prophecy  been  less  strikingly  verified  in  the 
case  of  the  other  cities  of  the  Philistine  plain.  All  vestiges 
of  the  ancient  walls  and  former  strength  of  Gaza  have  dis- 
appeared. Columns  of  marble  and  granite  are  scattered  in 
the  streets  and  gardens  of  the  modern  village,  and  used  as 
thresholds  at  the  gates  and  doors  of  houses.  *  Baldness  is 
come  upon  Gaza.'  Jer.  xlvii.  5. 

"  Ashdod,  where  the  ark  of  God  was  brought  into  the 


302  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

temple  of  Dagon,  and  humbled,  { that  twice  battered  god 
of  Palestine '  in  the  eyes  of  his  worshippers, — a  city  famous 
in  history,  as  having  sustained  a  siege  of  twenty-nine  years 
by  one  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  is  now  an  insignificant  village. 
A  succession  of  calamities  has  abased  its  pride,  and  thinned 
its  population.  'They  shall  drive  out  Ashdod  at  noon- 
day.' Zeph.  ii.  4. 

"  The  modern  village  of  'Akir  represents  the  Ekron  of 
former  days,  the  town  from  whicfy  the  ark  was  conveyed  on 
a  new  cart,  drawn  by  two  milch-kine,  who  took  the  straight 
way  to  Beth-shemesh,  the  nearest  point  in  the  hills  of  Judah. 
It  was  the  shrine  of  Baalzebub,  the  'lord  of  flies;'  but 
the  flies  have  outlived  their  lord.  The  town  is  built  of  un- 
burnt  bricks  or  mud,  with  no  mark  of  antiquity  to  tell  of  its 
ancient  greatness.  '  Ekron  shall  be  rooted  up.'  Zeph.  ii.  4. 

"  The  decay  that  has  come  upon  the  Philistian  cities  is 
not  written  in  blight  or  barrenness  upon  the  land.  The 
country  is  everywhere  fertile  and  luxuriant,  abounding  in 
rich  tracts  of  pasturage,  and  numerous  flocks  are  seen  near 
the  villages,  giving  an  aspect  of  life  and  cheerfulness  to  the 
landscape.  The  bow  of  its  old  fighting  men  has  been  bro- 
ken, and  -the  spear  cut  in  sunder,  but  the  pastoral  life  the 
people  led  in  the  days  of  Abimelech  still  holds  its  quiet 
round  through  the  seasons :  the  shepherd's  crook  is  more 
enduring  than  the  warrior's  sword.  And  this  was  the  pic- 
ture of  its  future  fortunes  drawn  by  a  Hebrew  prophet  long 
ago — 'The  sea-coast  shall  be  dwellings  and  cottages  for 
shepherds,  and  folds  for  flocks.'  " 


SACEED  GEOGRAPHY.  303 


BETHLEHEM. 

"  But  tbou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the  thou- 
sands of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be 
ruler  hi  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlast- 
ing."— MICAH  v.  2. 

The  associations  which  cluster  around  the  little  town  of 
Bethlehem,  and  which  are  familiar  as  household  words 
wherever  the  Bible  has  come,  equal,  perhaps,  exceed  in  in- 
terest, those  of  any  other  spot  on  the  whole  earth.  Apart 
from  these,  it  possesses  little  claim  to  consideration.  "  It 
was,"  says  Stanley,  "  but  the  ordinary  type  of  a  Judaean 
village,  not  distinguished  by  size  or  situation  from  any 
amongst  *  the  thousands  of  Judah.'  All  the  characteristics 
of  Bethlehem  are  essentially  of  this  nature.  Its  high  posi- 
tion on  the  narrow  ridge  of  the  long  gray  hill  would  leave 
'  no  room '  for  the  crowded  travellers  to  find  shelter ;  its 
southern  situation  made  it  always  a  resting-place,  probably 
the  first  halting-place  from  Jerusalem  on  the  way  to  Egypt. 
4  By  Bethlehem '  in  ancient  times  was  the  Caravanserai  or 
Khan  of  Chimham  (Jer.  xli.  17),  son  of  Barzillai,  for  those 
who  would  '  go  to  enter  into  Egypt ; '  and  from  Bethle- 
hem, it  may  be,  from  that  same  caravanserai,  Joseph 
'  arose  and  took  the  young  child  and  his  mother  and  de- 
parted into  Egypt.'  The  familiar  well  appears  close  by  the 
gate,  for  whose  water  David  longed.  Eastward  extend  the 
wild  hills,  where  the  flocks  and  herds  of  David,  and  of  Amos, 
and  of  '  the  shepherds  abiding  with  their  flocks  by  night,1 
may  have  wandered.  Below  lie  the  corn-fields,  the  scene 
of  Ruth's  adventures,  from  which  it  derives  its  name,  the 
'  house  of  Bread.' " — STANLEY'S  Sinai  and  Palestine. 

"  We  entered  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  ;  it  was  early  in 
the  morning,  yet  there  were  shepherds  abiding  in  the  fields, 
who  had  been  keeping  watch  over  their  flocks  by  night, 
and  the  black  tents  of  the  Bedouins  were  clustered  on  the 


304  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

side  of  a  hill,  while  their  sheep  and  goats  pastured  round 
them.  Every  shepherd  lad  here  seemed  to  possess  an  in- 
terest, and  to  represent  to  us  the  youthful  David  as  he  kept " 
his  father's  sheep  on  these  plains,  and  fearless  slew  the  lion 
and  bear  who  came  to  rob  his  flock." — WOODCOCK'S  Scrip- 
ture  Lands. 

"  What  a  mighty  influence  for  good,"  says  another  trav- 
eller, "  has  gone  forth  from  this  little  spot  upon  the  human 
race,  botk  for  time  and  for  eternity.  The  legends  and  puerilr 
ities  of  monastic  tradition  may  be  safely  disregarded.  It 
is  enough  to  know  that  this  is  Bethlehem,  where  Jesus 
the  Redeemer  was  born.  Generation  after  generation  has, 
indeed,  since  that  time  passed  away,  and  their  places  know 
them  no  more.  For  eighteen  hundred  seasons  and  more  the 
earth  has  renewed  her  carpet  of  verdure,  and  seen  it  again 
decay.  Yet  the  skies  and  the  fields,  the  rocks  and  the  hills 
and  the  valleys  around  remain  unchanged,  and  are  still  the 
same  as  when  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  round  about  the 
shepherds,  and  the  song  of  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host 
resounded  among  the  hills,  proclaiming, '  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men.' " — ROBIN- 
SON'S Biblical  Researches. 

JERUSALEM. 

"  The  city  which  I  have  chosen  me  to  put  my  name  there." — 1  KINGS 
xi.  36. 

"  Of  earth's  dark  circlet  once  the  precious  gem 
Of  living  light — 0  fallen  Jerusalem ! " — SOUTHET. 

"  On  reaching  the  rocky  heights  of  Beer,"  writes  Mr. 
Jowett,  "  travelling  towards  Jerusalem,  the  country  began 
to  assume  a  more  wild  appearance.  Uncultivated  hilly 
tracts  in  every  direction,  seemed  to  announce  that  not  only 
Jerusalem,  but  its  vicinity  for  some  miles  round,  was  des- 
tined to  sadden  the  heart  of  every  visitor.  Even  the  stranger 
that  should  come  from  a  far  land,  it  was  predicted,  should 


SACRED   GEOGEAPHT.  305 

be  amazed  at  the  plagues  laid  upon  the  country ;  and  this 
became  more  than  ever  literally  fulfilled  in  my  feelings  as  I 
drew  near  to  the  metropolis  of  this  chosen  nation.  Expec- 
tation was  indeed  wrought  up  to  a  high  pitch  as  we  ascend- 
ed hill  after  hill,  and  beheld  others  yet  more  distant  rising 
after  each  other.  Being  apprehensive  lest  I  should  not 
reach  the  city  gate  before  sunset  ...  I  repeatedly 
desired  the  guides  to  ask  the  Arabs  whom  we  met,  how  far, 
or,  according  to  the  language  of  this  country,  how  many 
hours,  it  was  to  Jerusalem  ?  The  answer  we  received  from 
all  was,  '  We  have  been  at  the  prayers  at  the  mosque  of 
Omar,  and  we  left  at  noon;'  to-day  being  the  Mohamme- 
dan sabbath.  We  were  thus  left  to  calculate  the  distance. 
The 'reply  sounded  very  foreign  to  the  ears  of  one  who 
knew  that  formerly  there  were  scenes  of  purer  worship  on 
this  spot.  '  Thither  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes*  of  the 
Lord,  to  the  testimony  of  Israel,  to  give  thanks  unto  the 
name  of  the  Lord.'  At  length,  while  the  sun  was  yet  two 
hours  high,  my  long  and  intensely  interesting  suspense  was 
relieved.  The  view  of  the  city  burst  upon  me  as  in  a  mo- 
ment ;  and  the  truly  graphic  language  of  the  Psalmist  was 
verified  in  a  degree  of  which  I  could  have  formed  no  pre- 
vious conception.  Continually  the  expressions  were  burst- 
ing from  my  lips — c  Beautiful  for  situation  ;  the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth  is  Mount  Zion  !  They  that  trust  in  the  Lord 
shall  be  as  Mount  Zion,  which  cannot  be  removed,  but 
abideth  forever !  As  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jeru- 
salem, so  the  Lord  is  round  about  his  people,  from  hence- 
forth, even  forever  ! '  " — JOWETT'S  Chr.  Researches. 

"  Apart  from  all  associations,"  says  Warburton,  "  the 
first  view  of  Jerusalem  is  a  most  striking  one.  A  brilliant 
and  unchequered  sunshine  has  something  mournful  in  it, 
when  all  that  it  shines  upon  is  utterly  desolate  and  drear. 
Not  a  tree  or  green  spot  is  visible ;  no  sign  of  life  breaks 
the  solemn  silence;  no  smile  of  nature's  gladness  ever 


306  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE   BIBLE. 

varies  the  stern  scenery  around.  The  naming,  monotonous 
sunshine  above,  and  the  pale,  distorted,  rocky  wastes  be- 
neath, realize  but  too  faithfully  the  prophetic  picture — 
"  Thy  sky  shall  be  brass  and  thy  land  shall  be  iron."  To 
the  right  and  left,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  vague  undu- 
lations of  colorless  rocks  extend  to  the  horizon.  A  broken 
and  desolate  plain  in  front  is  bounded  by  a  wavy,  battle- 
mented  wall,  over  which  towers  frown,  and  minarets  peer, 
and  mosque-domes  swell ;  intermingled  with  church  turret 
and  an  indistinguishable  mass  of  terraced  roofs.  High 
over  the  city,  to  the  left,  rises  the  Mount  of  Olives ;  and 
the  distant  tills  of  Moab,  almost  mingling  with  the  sky, 
afford  a  background  to  the  striking  picture.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  this  stern  scenery  did  not  present 
the  only  appearance  that  would  not  disappoint  expectation. 
It  is  unlike  anything  else  on  earth — so  blank  to  the  eye, 
yet  so  full  of  meaning  to  the  heart ;  every  mountain  round 
is  familiar  to  the  memory ;  even  yon  blasted  fig  tree  has 
its  voice,  and'  the  desolation  that  surrounds  us  bears  silent 
testimony  to  fearful  experiences.  The  plain  upon  which 
we  stand  looks  like  the  arena  of  deadly  struggle  in  times 
gone  by — struggles  in  which  all  the  mighty  nations  of  the 
earth  took  part,  and  in  which  Nature  herself  seems  to  have 
shared. 

"  As  we  advanced,  some  olive  trees  appeared,  and  deep 
valleys  on  the  left,  slightly  marked  with  pale,  green  gar- 
dens. An  enclosure  concealed  the  prospect  for  a  while, 
and  then  again  the  City  of  Zion  appeared,  shadowing  with 
its  battlemented  walls  the  barren  rocks  around.  As  we 
approached,  nothing  but  these  walls  were  visible,  presenting 
probably,  with  their  massive  gates  and  lofty  towers,  the 
same  appearance  as  they  wore  when  they  first  opened  to 
the  desiring  eyes  of  the  Crusaders  " — a  scene  which  Tasso 
has  so  vividly  described. 


SACRED   GEOGRAPHY.  307 

"  Swiftly  they  march'd,  yet  were  not  tired  thereby, 
For  willing  minds  make  heaviest  burdens  light. 
But  when  the  gliding  sun  was  mounted  high, 
Jerusalem  (behold)  appear'd  in  sight ; 
Jerusalem  they  view,  they  see,  they  spy, 
Jerusalem  with  merry  noise  they  greet, 
With  joyful  shouts,  and  acclamations  sweet. 

"To  that  delight  which  their  first  sight  did  breed, 
That  pleased  so  the  summit  of  their  thought, 

A  deep  repentance  did  forthwith  succeed, 
That  reverend  fear,  and  trembling  with  it  brought. 

Scantly  they  durst  their  feeble  eyes  dispreed, 
Upon  that  town,  where  Christ  was  sold  and  bought, 

Where  for  our  sins  he  faultless  suffer'd  pain, 

There  where  he  died,  and  where  he  lived  again. 

"  Their  naked  feet  trod  on  the  dusty  way, 
Following  th'  ensample  of  their  zealous  guide. 

Their  scarfs,  their  crests,  their  plumes  and  feathers  gay 
They  quickly  cleft,  and  willing  laid  aside, 

Their  moulten  hearts  their  wonted  pride  allay ; 
Along  their  watery  cheeks  warm  tears  down  slide." 

FAIRFAX'S  TASSO,  Cant.  iii.  v.  6,  7. 

Although  the  denunciations  of  divine  prophecy  have 
been  so  remarkably  fulfilled  in  the  desolations  which  have 
overtaken  the  holy  city,  yet  there  are  certain  ineffaceable 
features  which  still  remain  to  attest  the  fidelity  of  the 
sketches  so  frequently  drawn  in  the  Book  of  Truth.  The 
hills  which  surround  it  for  nearly  twenty  miles  on  every 
side,  forcibly  image  forth  the  security  that  encompasses 
the  people  of  God.  The  two  parallel  ridges  upon  which 
the  ancient  city  was  built,  with  a  valley  between  them,  are 
the  grand  land  marks  of  the  present  city.  The  eastern 
is  Mount  Moriah  on  which  the  Mosque  of  Omar  occupies 
the  place  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  Within  under  the 
dome,  is  a  mass  of  limestone  rock,  the  natural  surface  of 
the  mount,  on  which  may  be  seen  marks  of  chiselling.  The 
place  where  the  Jewish  altar  of  burnt-offering  stood,  has 


308  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

been  identified  by  a  bore  in  the  solid  rock,  which  "  corre- 
sponds exactly  with  the  description  given  in  the  Mishna  of 
the  drain  and  cesspool  communicating  with  the  sewer  that 
ran  off  into  the  Kidron." — Conybeare  and  Hewson,  ii.  257. 
In  the  huge  foundation  stones  of  the  wall  enclosing  the 
Haram  area,  now  the  Jewish  waiting  place,  we  have  un- 
doubted portions  of  the  original  temple.  To  the  west  of 
Moriah  is  Mount  Zion,  on  which  an  oblong  castle  represents 
the  ancient  tower  of  David,  and  probably  may  have  sprung 
out  of  its  ruins.  The  valley  between  is  that  of  the  Tyro- 
pceon,  once  spanned  by  the  magnificent  viaduct  erected 
by  Solomon,  "the  ascent  by  which  he  went  up  to  the 
house  of  the  Lord,"  which  so  impressed  tne  Queen  of  Sheba 
with  the  wise  king's  greatness  "  that  there  was  no  more 
spirit  in  her."  Unequivocal  remains  of  this  noble  work, 
it  is  said,  have  been  recently  discovered.  Rising  to  the 
east,  is  seen  the  gray  ridge  of  Olivet  over  which  David 
once  fled  from  Absalom,  and  on  whose  brow  a  greater 
than  David  once  paused  and  dropt  his  tears,  on  the  way- 
side stones.  "  As  now  the  dome  of  the  mosque  rises  like  a 
ghost  from  the  earth,  so  then  must  have  risen  the  temple 
tower ;  as  now  the  vast  enclosure  of  the  Mussulman  sanc- 
tuary, so  then  must  have  spread  the  temple  courts ;  as  now 
the  gray  town  on  its  broken  hills,  so  then  the  magnificent 
city,  with  its  background  of  gardens  and  suburbs  on  the 
western  plateau  behind.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  doubt 
that  this  rise  and  turn  of  the  road,  this  rocky  ledge,  was 
the  exact  spot  where  the  multitude  paused  again,  and  '  He 
beheld  the  city,  and  wept  over  it.' "  Beneath  the  rocky 
side  of  Moriah  is  still  found  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and  the 
well  of  En  Rogel  where  Jonathan  and  Ahimaaz  tarried 
yet  marks  the  ancient  border  between  Judah  and  Benja- 
min. The  valleys  of  Gihon,  Hinnom,  and  Jehosaphat  still 
intrench  the  city  round  about,  and  the  brook  Kidron  pur- 
sues its  course  as  of  old,  where  a  grove  of  ancient  and 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  309 

magnificent  olive  trees  still  marks  the  garden  of  Geth- 
seinane.  However  apocryphal  may  be  the  sites  which  have 
been  for  many  ages  associated  with  scenes  of  the  most 
sacred  interest,  there  are  features  so  strongly  marked  and 
unmistakable  as  to  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  most 
of  the  prominent  localities  of  the  holy  city  may  still  be 
identified.  Scepticism  may  smile  at  the  superstitions  con- 
nected with*  alleged  holy  places,  but  here,  it  cannot  be 
doubted,  is  the  City  of  David  and  Solomon — where  the 
visible  presence  of  Jehovah  was  vouchsafed — where  proph- 
ets were  wrapped  in  heavenly  visions — where  the  chosen 
tribes  came  up  to  worship — and  above  all  where  that  death 
was  perpetrated  which  has  opened  our  way  to  life.  How 
terribly  the  atrocities  which  marked  that  event  have  been 
avenged,  the  desolations  which  have  continued  even  to  the 
present  time,  bear  impressive  testimony. 

"  Mourn,  Salem !  mourn !    Low  lies  thine  humbled  state ; 

Thy  glittering  fanes  are  levelled  with  the  ground ; 
Fallen  is  thy  pride — thine  halls  are  desolate  ! 

Where  erst  was  heard  the  timbrel's  sprightly  sound, 

And  frolic  pleasure  tripped  the  nightly  round. 
There  breeds  the  wild  fox  lonely,  and  aghast 

Stands  the  mute  pilgrim  at  the  void  profound ; 
TJnbroke  by  noise — save  when  the  hurrying  blast 
Sighs  like  a  spirit,  deep  along. the  cheerless  waste  ! 

"  It  is  for  this,  proud  Solyma,  thy  towers 

Lie  crumbling  in  the  dust ;  for  this,  forlorn 
Thy  genius  wails  along  thy  desert  bowers ; 

While  stern  destruction  laughs,  as  if  in  scorn, 

That  thou  didst  dare  insult  God's  eldest  born ; 
And  with  most  bitter  persecuting  ire 

Pursued  his  footsteps,  till  the  last  day  dawn 
Rose  on  his  fortunes — and  thou  saw'st  the  fire 
That  came  to  light  the  world,  hi  one  great  flash  expire." 


310  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

THE  KOAD  FKOM  JERUSALEM  TO  JEEICHO. 

The  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan  has  rendered  the  long 
and  rugged  pass  which  leads  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho 
forever  famous,  and  its  incidents  still  find  striking  illustra- 
tion in  the  wild  and  gloomy  scenery.  "  The  road  winds 
through  the  bottom  of  savage  gorges,  or  rises  steeply 
along  the  edge  of  the  precipices,  only  to  sink  deeper  into 
narrow  passes  and  glens  still  more  desolate,  cloVen  through 
naked  cliffs  of  limestone.  Here,  without  an  escort,  some- 
times with  one,  the  traveller  may  still  '  fall  among  thieves  ; ' 
and  none  can  pass  that  way,  through  the  heart  of  these 
stern  and  rugged  solitudes,  without  a  sensation  of  awe  and 
peril.  A  particular  part  of  the  road,  the  scene  of  many  a 
murder,  was  called  the  red  or  bloody  way ;  and  here  in 
Jerome's  tune  a  fort  was  placed  with  a  Roman  garrison, 
for  the  protection  of  travellers."  "  The  region,"  says  an 
American  writer,  "  is  so  scarred,  gashed,  and  torn,  that  no 
work  of  mankind  can  save  it  from  perpetual  desolation. 
It  is  a  wilderness  more  hopeless  than  the  desert.  If  I  were 
left  alone  hi  the  midst  of  it,  I  should  lie  down  and  await 
death  without  thought  or  hope  of  rescue."  "  The  heat  re- 
flected from  those  ghastly  walls  of  rock,  the  sultry  ash- 
colored  vapor  brooding  over  the  white  hollows  like  the 
smoke  of  a  furnace,  with  no  breath  of  air  to  lift  it,  the 
scorching  sirocco  blowing  in  fiery  gusts,  rendering  the 
'going  down'  into  the  Jordan  valley  a  most  fatiguing 
journey;  and  the  frightful  sterility  and  silence  of  the 
place  gives  one  an  impression,  till  then  unfelt,  of  the  hor- 
rors of  the  situation  in  which  a  traveller  would  find  him- 
self stretched  bleeding  by  the  wayside  and  left  to  die." — 
REV.  J.  D.  BUBNS. 

THE   DEAD   SEA. 

This  sea  is  called  in  sacred  writ  the  Salt  Sea,  the  Sea  of 
the  Plain,  and  the  East  Sea.  It  occupies  what  was  formerly 


SACRED   GEOGEAPHY.  311 

the  valley  of  Siddim,  in  which  stood  the  five  cities  of  the 
plain — Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah,  Zeboiim, and  Bela.  These 
guilty  cities  were  utterly  destroyed  by  the  righteous  ven- 
geance of  the  Almighty,  and  their  very  sites  have  been  hid 
from  the  face  of  heaven  by  waters  that  are  unique  among 
all  the  waters  of  the  earth. — Vid.  Gen.  xiii.  xiv.  xix. 

"The  inference  from  the  Bible,"  says  Lieut.  Lynch, 
"  that  the  entire  chasm  was  a  plain  sunk  and  '  overwhelm- 
ed '  by  the  wrath  of  God,  seems  to  be  sustained  by  the 
extraordinary  character  of  the  soundings.  The  bottom  of 
this  sea  consists  of  two  submerged  plains,  an  elevated  and 
a  depressed  one ;  the  former  averaging  thirteen^  the  latter 
about  thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the  surface.  Through 
the  northern,  and  largest  and  deepest  one,  in  a  line  corre- 
sponding with  the  bed  of  the  Jordan,  is  a  ravine,  which 
again  seems  to  correspond  with  the  Wady  el-Jeib,  at  the 
south  end  of  the  sea. 

"  Between  the  Jabbok  and  this  sea,  we  unexpectedly 
found  a  sudden  break  down  in  the  bed  of  the  Jordan.  If 
there  be  a  similar  break  in  the  water-courses  to  the  south  of 
the  sea,  accompanied  with  like  volcanic  characters,  there  can 
scarce  be  a  doubt  that  the  whole  Ghor  has  sunk  from  'some 
.extraordinary  convulsion ;  preceded,  most  probably,  by  an 
eruption  of  fire,  and  a  general  conflagration  of  the  bitumen 
which  abounded  in  the  plain.  I  shall  ever  regret  that  we 
were  not  authorized  to  explore  the  southern  Ghor  to  the 
Red  Sea.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  for  the  learned  to  comment  on  the  facts  we  have 
laboriously  collected.  Upon  ourselves  the  result  is  a  de- 
cided one.  We  entered  upon  this  sea  with  conflicting 
opinions.  One  of  the  party  was  sceptical,  and  another,  I 
think,  a  professed  unbeliever  of  the  Mosaic  account.  After 
twenty-two  days'  close  investigation,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
we  are  unanimous  in  the  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the 
Scriptural  accounts  of  the  destruction  of  the  cities  of  the 


312  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE   BIBLE. 

plain.  I  record  with  diffidence  the  conclusions  we  have 
reached,  simply  as  a  protest  against  the  shallow  deductions 
of  would-be  unbelievers." — LYNCH'S  Expedition. 

"  Yes,  on  that  plain,  by  wild  waves  covered  now, 

Rose  palace  once,  and  sparkling  pinnacle ; 
On  pomp  and  spectacle  beamed  morning's  glow, 
On  pomp  and  festival  the  twilight  fell. 

"  Lovely  and  splendid  all — but  Sodom's  soul 

Was  stained  with  blood,  and  pride,  and  perjury ; 
Long  warned,  long  spared,  till  her  whole  heart  was  foul, 
And  fiery  vengeance  on  its  clouds  came  nigh. 

"  And  still  she  mocked,  and  danced,  and  taunting,  spoke 

Her  sportive  blasphemies  against  the  Throne : 
It  came  ! — the  thunder  on  her  slumber  broke — 

God  spake  the  word  of  wrath ! — Her  dream  was  done." 

CROLY. 

ENGEDI. 

"  And  David  went  up  from  thence,  and  dwelt  in  strongholds  at  En- 
gedi." — 1  SAMUEL  xxiii.  29. 

This  locality  has  always,  until  recently,  been  sought  at 
the  north  end  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  but  Seetzen,  a  Russian 
traveller,  having  recognized  the  ancient  name  hi  the  Ain- 
jidy  of  the  Arabs,  ascertained  its  true  situation  at  a  point 
of  the  western  shore,  nearly  equidistant  from  both  extremi- 
ties of  the  lake.  It  was  here  that  David  and  his  men  lived 
among  the  "rocks  of  the  wild  goats,"  and  where  the  former 
cut  off  the  skirts  of  Saul's  robe  in  a  cave.  1  Sam.  xxiv.  1-4. 

"  We  had  no  question,"  writes  Dr.  Robinson,  "  that  this 
spot  is  the  ancient  En-gedi.  With  this  name  the  present 
'Am  Jidy  of  the  Arabs  is  identical,  and  like  it  also,  signifies 
the  'Fountain  of  the  Kid.'  The  more  ancient  Hebrew 
name  was  Hazazon-Tamar.  As  such  it  was  first  mentioned 
before  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  as  being  inhabited  by 
Amorites  and  near  to  the  cities  of  the  plain.  Under  the 


SACKED   GEOGRAPHY.  313 

name  En-gedi,  it  occurs  as  a  city  of  Judah  in  the  desert, 
giving  its  name  to  a  part  of  the  desert  to  which  David 
withdrew  for  fear  of  Saul.  At  a  later  period,  bands  of 
the  Moabites  and  Amorites  came  up  against  King  Jehos- 
aphat,  apparently  around  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  as 
far  as  to  En-gedi ;  by  the  very  same  route,  it  would  seem, 
which  is  taken  by  the  Arabs  in  their  marauding  expeditions 
at  the  present  day,  along  the  shore  as  far  as  to  'Ain  Jidy, 
and  then  up  the  pass  and  so  northwards  below  Tekoa. 
According  to  Josephus,  En-gedi  lay  upon  the  lake  Asphaltis, 
and  was  celebrated  for  beautiful  palm-trees  and  opobalsam ; 
while  its  vineyards  are  likewise  mentioned  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. From  it  towards  Jerusalem  there  was  an  ascent 
*  by  the  cliff  Ziz,'  which  seems  to  have  been  none  other 
than  the  present  pass.  In  the  days  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome, 
En-gedi  was  still  a  large  village  on  the  shore  of  the  Dead 
Sea." — Bib.  JRes.,  vol.  ii. 


THE  JORDAN. 

"And  Joshua  .  .  .  came  to  Jordan,  he  and  all  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  lodged  there  before  they  passed  over." — JOSH.  iii.  1. 

"  This  celebrated  stream,  which,  though  it  cannot  boast, 
like  other  famous  rivers,  of  splendid  cities  and  marts  of 
commerce  on  its  banks,  yet  far  surpasses  them  all  in  illus- 
trious and  hallowed  associations,  is  probably  little  altered, 
since  Joshua  with  the  Israelites  approached  the  fords  or 
passages  about  two  miles  from  its  mouth.  At  that  time, 
the  sacred  writer  informs  us,  the  river  Jordan  '  overflowed 
all  its  banks,'  in  the  first  month,  or  at  the  time  of  harvest. 
The  original  Hebrew  expresses  in  these  passages  nothing 
more  than  that  '  the  Jordan  was  full  (or  filled)  up  to  all  its 
banks,'  meaning  the  banks  of  its  channel ;  it  ran  with  full 
banks,  or  was  brimfull.  .  .  . 

"  Thus  understood,  the  Biblical  account  corresponds  en- 
14 


314  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

tirely  to  what  we  find  to  be  the  case  at  the  present  day. 
The  Israelites  crossed  the  Jordan  four  days  before  the 
Passover  (Easter).  .  .  :  Then,  as  now,  the  harvest  occur- 
red during  April  and  early  in  May,  the  barley  preceding 
the  wheat  harvest  by  two  or  three  weeks.  Then,  as  now, 
there  was  a  slight  annual  rise  of  the  river,  which  caused  it 
to  flow  at  this  season  with  full  banks,  and  sometimes  to1 
spread  its  waters  even  over  the  immediate  banks  of  its 
channel,  where  they  are  lowest,  so  as  in  some  places  to  fill 
the  low  tract  covered  with  trees  and  vegetables  along  its 
sides. 

"  The  low  bed  of  the  river,  and  the  absence  of  inunda- 
tion and  of  tributary  streams,  combine  to  leave  the  greater 
portion  of  the  Ghor  a  solitary  desert.  Such  it  is  described 
in  antiquity,  and  such  we  find  it  at  the  present  day.  Jose- 
phus  speaks  of  the  Jordan  as  flowing  c  through  a  desert ; ' 
and  of  this  plain  as  in  summer  scorched  by  heat,  insalubri- 
ous, and  watered  by  no  stream  except  the  Jordan."  Lieut. 
Lynch  describes  its  banks  as  exhibiting  "  a  bright  line  of 
verdure  amid  a  cheerless  waste." 

"  Such  is  the  Jordan  and  its  valley ;  that  venerated  stream 
celebrated  on  almost  every  page  of  the  Old  Testament  as 
the  border  of  the  Promised  Land,  whose  floods  were  mira- 
culously '  driven  back '  to  afford  a  passage  for  the  Israelites. 
In  the  New  Testament  it  is  still  more  remarkable  for  the 
baptism  of  our  Saviour ;  when  the  heavens  were  opened, 
and  the  Spirit  of  God  descended  upon  him,  and,  lo,  a  voice 
from  Heaven,  saying,  c  This  is  my  beloved  Son  ! '  "We  now 
stood  upon  its  shores,  and  had  bathed  in  its  waters,  and  felt 
ourselves  surrounded  by  hallowed  associations.  The  exact 
places  of  these  and  other  events  connected  with  this  part  of 
Jordan,  it  is  vain  to  seek  after ;  nor  is  this  necessary,  in  or- 
der to  awaken  and  fully  to  enjoy  all  the  emotions  which  the 
region  around  is  adapted  to  inspire." — ROBINSON'S  £ib.  Res. 


CHAPTEE   X. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY  OF  THE  INSPIRED  WRITERS — 
CONTINUED. 

NOT  the  least  interesting  among  the  results  of  topo- 
graphical discovery  in  the  Holy  Land  is  the  identification 
of  ancient 

GIBEON. 
"  The  high  place  at  Gibeon." — 1  CHRON.  xxi.  29. 

This  town,  so  celebrated  in  Old  Testament  History, 
geems  to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  natural  locality  of 
its  site,  its  meaning  being  the  hill  place  or  city.  It  is  first 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  deception  practised  by 
the  inhabitants  upon  Joshua,  by  which,  although  belonging 
to  the  accursed  race  of  the  Canaanites,  they  induced  the 
Jewish  leader  not  only  to  make  a  league  with  them,  and  to 
spare  their  lives  and  cities,  but  also  in  their  defence  to  make 
war  upon  the  five  kings  by  whom  they  were  besieged.  It 
was  in  the  great  battle  that  followed,  that  the  sun  stood 
still  upon  Gibeon.  (Joshua  x.  12-14.)  See  also  Joshua 
xi.  19,  xviii.  25,xxi.  IV  ;  2  Sam.  ii.  12-23,  iii.  30,  xx.  8-12; 
1  Kings  iii ;  Jer.  xli.  12,  etc. 

"  The  situation  of  Gibeon  has  fortunately  been  recover- 
ed with  as  great  certainty  as  any  ancient  site  in  Palestine. 
»Che  traveller  who  pursues  the  northern  camel-road  from 
Ferusalem,  turning  to  the  left  at  Tuleil  el-ful  (Gibeah),  finds 
ihnself  ...  in  a  district  .  .  .  where  the  hills  are  more  iso- 


316  TESHMOIST   OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

lated  than  those  through  which  he  has  been  passing.  .  .  . 
Retaining  its  ancient  name  almost  intact,  El-Jib  stands  on 
the  northernmost  of  a  couple  of  these  hills,  just  at  the  place 
where  the  road  to  the  sea  parts  into  two  branches.  .  .  Its 
distance  from  Jerusalem  by  the  main  road  is  six  and  a  half 
miles ;  but  there  is  a  more  direct  road  reducing  it  to  five 
miles." — SMITH'S  Biblical  Dictionary. 

After  the  conquest  by  Joshua,  says  Dr.  Robinson,  "  the 
place  fell  to  the  lot  of  Benjamin,  and  became  a  Levitical 
city,  where  the  tabernacle  was  set  up  for  many  years  under 
David  and  Solomon.  The  ark  at  this  time  was  at  Jerusa- 
lem. Here  the  latter  youthful  monarch  offered  a  thousand 
burnt-offerings ;  and  in  a  dream  by  night  communed  with 
God,  and  asked  for  himself  a  wise  and  understanding  heart, 
instead  of  riches  and  honor.  Here,  too,  it  was  that  Abner's 
challenge  to  Joab  terminated  in  the  defeat  and  flight  of  the 
former,  and  the  death  of  Asahel ;  and  here,  also,  at  a  later 
period,  Amasa  was  treacherously  slain  by  Joab. 

"  The  village  of  El-Jib  is  situated  upon  an  isolated  ob- 
long hill  or  ridge,  which  rises  in  a  beautiful  plain,  bounded 
on  the  west  and  south  by  mountains. 

"  This  hill  is  in  some  parts  steep  and  difficult  of  access, 
and  capable  of  being  everywhere  very  strongly  fortified.  .  . 
It  may  be  said  to  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  basin,  composed 
of  broad  valleys  or  plains,  cultivated,  and  full  of  grain, 
vineyards,  and  orchards  of  olive  and  fig  trees.  It  was  de- 
cidedly the  finest  part  of  Palestine  that  I  had  yet  seen.  .  . 

"  We  reached  the  village  of  El-Jib,  situated  on  the  sum- 
mit of  this  hill.  ...  It  is  of  moderate  size  ;  .  .  .  the  houses 
stand  very  irregularly  and  unevenly,  sometimes  almost  one 
above  another.  They  seem  to  be  chiefly  rooms  in  old  mas- 
sive ruins,  which  have  fallen  down  in  every  direction.  One 
large  massive  building  still  remains,  perhaps  a  former  castle 
or  tower  of  strength ;  .  .  .  the  whole  appearance  is  that  of 
antiquity.  Towards  the  east  the  ridge  sinks  a  little ;  and 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  317 

here,  a  few  rods  from  the  village,  just  below  the  top  of  the 
ridge,  is  a  fine  fountain  of  water.  It  is  in  a  cave  excavated 
in  and  under  the  high  rock,  so  as  to  form  a  large  subterra- 
nean reservoir.  Not  far  below  it,  among  the  olive  trees, 
are  the  remains  of  another  open  reservoir.  ...  It  was 
doubtless  anciently  intended  to  receive  the  superfluous 
waters  of  the  cavern.  At  this  time  no  stream  was  flowing 
from  the  latter.  It  is  not  difficult  to  recognize  in  El-Jib 
and  its  rocky  eminence  the  ancient  Gibeon  of  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  .  .  .  (and)  the  '  Pool  of  Gibeon,'  mentioned  in  the 
story  of  Abner,  may  well  be  the  waters  of  the  fountain  de- 
scribed (above) ;  and  these  are  also  probably  lthe  great' 
(or  many)  'waters  in  Gibeon,'  epoken  of  in  Jeremiah 
xli.  12."— ROBINSON'S  Bib.  Res.,  v.  ii.  pp.  135-8. 

The  ancient  Gibeon  "  is  situated  on  the  top  of  a  re- 
markably round  hill,  the  sides  of  which  are  so  completely 
terraced,  not  by  art,  but  by  nature,  that  they  present  the 
appearance  of  a  flight  of  steps  all  round,  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom.  The  buildings  are  mostly  on  the  western  brow 
of  the  hill,  the  rest  of  the  summit  being  covered  with  fine 
olive  trees.  Many  of  the  terraces  are  also  set  with  vines 
and  fruit  trees.  .  .  .  The  scene  of  Joshua's  miracle  was 
vividly  set  before  us.  The  glorious  sun  was  sloping  west- 
ward, about  to  sink  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  his  hori- 
zontal rays  were  falling  full  upon  the  hill  of  Gibeon  ;  at  the 
same  time  the  moon  was  rising,  and  soon  after  poured  her 
silver  beams  into  the  quiet  vale  (beneath).  It  was  strangely 
interesting  to  look  upon  the  scene  where  '  the  Lord  heark- 
ened unto  the  voice  of  man.' " — Narrative  of  Mission  to  the 
Jews,  pp.  201,  202. 

Of  the  valley  beneath  Gibeon,  the  traveller  Carne  writes 
that  it  "  is  of  sufficient  breadth  and  compass  to  allow  of  a 
numerous  host  engaging  in  its  bosom,  and  presents  as  fine  a 
field  of  battle  as  two  armies  could  desire.  The  Amorites 
were  probably  surprised  by  Joshua,  as  they  were  encamped 


318  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

in  this  valley,  and  hemmed  in  by  hills  on  each  side ;  as  it  is 
said,  '  he  came  suddenly  upon  them ; '  and  after  a  bloody 
combat,  they  fled  along  the  valley,  whose  enclosed  space 
afforded  great  advantage  to  the  pursuers,  as  it  appeared  to 
be  from  twelve  to  fifteen  miles  in  length.  On  the  summit 
of  a  lofty  hill,  in  the  bosom  of  the  valley,  Gibeon  is  sup- 
posed to  have  stood,  as  there  is  a  hamlet  of  the  name  of 
El-Jib  still  standing  on  the  site  ;  and  this  site  agrees  with 
the  description  given.  The  peculiar  and  bold  aspect  of  this 
memorable  valley  must  have  greatly  aided  the  effect  of  the 
miracle.  The  high  hill  of  Gibeon,  towards  the  west,  over- 
looked the  whole  region ;  and  the  royal  city  on  its  summit, 
just  before  besieged  by  the  confederate  kings,  was  the  meed 
for  which  both  armies  fought — the  one  to  save,  the  other  to 
destroy.  It  may  be  inferred  that  the  day  was  waning  on 
the  slaughter  of  the  vanquished,  who  fled  along  the  valley 
to  the  opposite  extremity  to  which  their  conqueror  had 
entered ;  and  while  the  declining  rays  were  thrown  redly 
on  the  lofty  hill  and  the  city  that  crowned  it,  Joshua  utter- 
ed the  command:  Sun,  stand  thou  still  on  Gibeon,  and  thou, 
moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon.  It  would  seem,  too,  that  the 
destroying  storm  from  on  high  fell  not  on  the  flying  Amor- 
ites,  until,  issuing  from  the  valley,  they  descended  on  the 
wide  plain  beyond.  Here,  scattering  themselves  on  every 
side,  they  could  more  easily  avoid  the  pursuer's  sword,  from 
whose  edge  the  greater  part  would  have  escaped,  but  that 
they  fell  by  a  Divine  arrest. 

In  what  manner  the  sword  of  Israel  was  seconded  by 
the  artillery  of  Heaven,  whether  by  a  hail  storm  of  uncom- 
mon fierceness  or  by  the  falling  of  the  bodies  called  aero- 
lites, it  is  impossible  to  determine.  The  effects  were  the 
same  in  the'  destruction  of  the  Canaanites,  and  on  either 
supposition  we  must  recognize  the  finger  of  God,  since  the 
timing  of  the  tempest  to  that  end,  and  its  not  touching  the 
Israelites,  sufficiently  indicated  a  supernatural  interposi- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  319 

tion.  That  hailstones  have  descended  of  force  enough  to 
destroy  life,  is  proved  by  the  account  of  one  of  the  plagues 
of  Egypt  having  been  a  storm  of  that  description,  and  is 
confirmed  by  other  historians.  Thus  Albertus  Aquensis 
relates  that  Baldwin  I.  and  his  army,  when  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  "  suffered  incredibly  from  horrid  hail,  and 
other  atmospheric  influences,  so  that  many  lives  were  lost." 
The  other  miracle  wrought  upon  this  memorable  occa- 
sion has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  cavil  to  the  sceptic  and 
unbeliever.  The  objection  drawn  from  its  want  of  scien- 
tific accuracy  of  statement — that  it  seems  to  represent  the 
sun  as  moving  round  the  earth  instead  of  the  earth  moving 
round  the  sun — is  readily  met  by  the  answer  that  the  lan- 
guage used  is  adapted  to  the  appearance,  not  the  reality  of 
things.  But  a  more  serious  objection  to  the  narrative  is. 
the  derangement  which  the  alleged  occurrence  must  have 
occasioned.  The  course  of  nature  would  have  been  gen- 
erally interrupted.  Such  a  sudden  check  to  the  earth's 
motion  would  have  been,  by  means  of  the  atmosphere,  to 
crush  at  once  all  animal  and  vegetable  existence — to  level 
with  the  ground  the  loftiest  and  most  massive  structures, 
and,  in  fact,  to  sweep  the  whole  surface  of  the  „  globe  as 
with  the  besom  of  destruction.  To  this  perhaps  it  were 
sufficient  to  reply  that  He  who  was  able  to  work  so  great 
a  miracle  was  also  able  to  counteract  any  evil  conse- 
quences that  might  result  from  it.  But  another  explana- 
tion has  been  suggested  which,  without  resorting  to  such 
an  interference,  entirely  obviates  the  difficulty.  The  expres- 
sion rendered  in  our  English  version  "  the  midst  of  heaven," 
may  be  rendered  the  division  of  heaven,  or  the  visible  ho- 
rizon. Also  the  word  rendered  sun  may  be  rendered  solar 
light.  The  account  admits,  therefore,  of  being  read  thus : 
The  solar  light  lingered  on  the  horizon,  and  hastened  not  to 
go  down  about  a  whole  day.  Now  it  is  well  known  that 
through  the  operation  of  the  laws  of  refraction  and  reflec- 


320  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

tion,  the  sun's  disc  is  ordinarily  seen  above  the  horizon 
some  time  after  he  has  really  sunk  below  it.  Without, 
therefore,  the  progress  of  nature  having  been  either  de- 
layed or  accelerated,  it  is  evident  that  Almighty  power 
could  on  this  memorable  occasion .  have  so  altered  the  me- 
dium through  which  the  sun's  rays  passed,  as  to  render  it 
visible  above  the  horizon  longer  after  it  would,  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  have  disappeared.  This,  to  the  appre- 
hension of  the  Israelites,  would  have  had  all  the  visible 
effects  of  staying  the  career  of  the  sun ;  and  to  ours  that 
of  arresting  the  earth's  revolution  on  its  axis ;  and  this  is 
all  that  the  sacred  text  requires,  while  it  satisfies  all  the 
conditions  of  the  miracle. 


MIZPEH. 
"  And  Samuel  said,  Gather  all  Israel  to  Mizpeh."— 1  SAM.  vii.  5. 

Mizpeh  of  Benjamin  is  probably  to  be  found  at  the  spot 
now  called  Neby  Samwil,  or  the  Tomb  of  Samuel,  at  which 
tradition  (but  without  sufficient  reason)  asserts  that  the 
prophet  was  buried. 

The  name  Mizpeh,  which  signifies  "  a  place  of  look-out — 
a  watch  tower,"  implies  that  it  was  situated  on  an  elevated 
spot.  Neby  Samwil  is  on  a  conspicuous  height,  and  is  vis- 
ible from  Jerusalem  and  many  other  parts.  Traces  of  an 
ancient  town  are  visible  upon  it. 

"  We  now  had  before  us  the  elevated  ridge  of  Neby 
Samwil.  Our  way  led  us  directly  to  the  summit,  up  the 
steep  but  not  difficult  ascent  of  the  northwestern  side. 
The  top  is  crowned  by  a  small  miserable  village  and  a  neg- 
lected mosque.  The  mosque  is  here  the  principal  object ; 
it  is  now  in  a  state  of  great  decay.  There  are  few  houses 
now  inhabited,  but  many  traces  of  former  dwellings.  In 
some  parts  the  rock,  which  is  soft,  has  been  hewn  away  for 
several  feet  in  height,  so  as  to  form  the  walls  of  houses : 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  321 

two  or  three  reservoirs  are,  in  like  manner,  hewn  in  the 
rock.  These  cuttings  and  levellings  extend  over  a  consid- 
erable space.  The  view  from  the  roof  of  the  mosque  is 
very  commanding  in  every  direction ;  the  deep  Wady  Beit 
Henina,  Jerusalem,  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  Frank  Moun- 
tain, and  a  large  portion  of  the  eastern  slope,  with  the 
mountains  Beyond  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea.  In  the 
northwest  the  fertile  plain  of  Gibeon  lies  immediately  be- 
low ;  and  farther  on  the  eye  embraces  a  large  extent  of  the 
great  lower  plain  along  the  coast,  as  well  as  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean itself. .  In  a  clear  day  Jaffa  may  be  distinctly  seen. 
A  large  number  of  villages  were  visible  on  every  side." — 
ROBINSON'S  Res.,  vol.  i.  pp.  139,  140. 

"  The  hill  on  which  the  village  and  mosque  of  Neby 
Samwil  now  stand  is  not  only  the  most  conspicuous  object 
round  El-Jib,  but  also  in  the  surrounding  country.  It  rises 
abruptly  to  a  height  of  500  or  600  feet  above  the  little  plain 
of  Gibeon  ;  and  its  sides,  though  here  and  there  broken  by 
cliffs,  are  almost  everywhere  cultivated  in  terraces,  along 
which  the  fig  and  the  vine  grow  luxuriantly  .  .  .  From  the 
summit  we  gain  a  wider  view  than  from  any  other  peak  in 
southern  Palestine." — PORTER'S  Hand  Book,  p.  225. 

The  best  and  latest  investigators  now  unite  in  attesting 
that  here  was  the  ancient  Mizpeh,  a  famous  city  of  Ben- 
jamin, where  the  tribes  often  assembled ;  where  Samuel 
offered  sacrifice  and  judged  the  people ;  where  Saul  was 
chosen  king  by  lot ;  and  where,  under  the  Chaldeans,  Ged- 
aliah  the  governor  resided  and  was  assassinated.  "  Of  all 
the  points  of  interest  about  Jerusalem,"  says  Stanley,  "none 
perhaps  gains  so  much  from  an  actual  visit  to  Palestine  as 
the  lofty  peaked  eminence  which  fills  up  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  the  table  land ;  seen  in  every  direction,  the  highest 
elevation  in  the  whole  country  south  of  Hermon,  command- 
ing a  view  far  wider  than  that  of  Olivet,  inasmuch  as  it  in- 
cludes the  western  plain  and  Mediterranean  Sea  on  one 
14* 


322  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE.  BIBLE. 

side,  as  well  as  Olivet  and  Jerusalem  in  the  distance  backed 
by  the  range  of  JVloab.  It  is  in  fact  the  point  from  which 
travellers  mounting  by  the  ancient  route  through  the  pass 
of  Beth-horen  obtained  their  earliest  view  of  the  interior 
of  the  hills  of  Palestine.  '  It  is  a  very  fair  and  delicious 
place,'  says  Mandeville,  c  and  it  is  called  Mount  Joy,  because 
it  gives  joy  to  pilgrims'  hearts ;  for  from  that  place  men 
first  see  Jerusalem.' "  Canon  Stanley  also  identifies  this  local- 
ity with  Mizpeh. 

SHILOH. 

"Go  ye  now  to  my  place  which  was  in  Shiloh,  where  I  set  my  name  at 
the  first,  and  see  what  I  did  to  it  for  the  wickedness  of  my  people  Israel." 
— JER.  vii.  12. 

The  site  of  this  most  interesting  locality  was  entirely 
unknown  until  its  discovery  by  Dr.  Robinson,  A.  D.  1848. 
An  old  tradition  had  placed  it  at  Neby  Samwil,  in  quite  a 
different  district  of  the  country,  though  the  slightest  refer- 
ence to  the  statement  of  Scripture  regarding  its  actual  po- 
sition would  have  shown  it  to  be  untenable. 

"  A  p'rominent  object  of  our  inquiries  in  this  region 
(Dr.  Robinson  was  travelling  frgm  Jerusalem  to  Sichem, 
and  was  now  about  half  way  between  Bethel  and  the  latter 
place)  was  the  ancient  Shiloh,  celebrated  in  the  history  of 
the  Israelites  as  the  place  where  the  ark  remained  from  the 
time  of  Joshua  to  Solomon.  Our  guide  yesterday  spoke 
of  a  ruin  called  Seilun  ;  of  which  there  was  a  saying  among 
the  people  that,  were  the  Franks  to  visit  it,  they  would 
deem  it  of  such  importance  that  they  would  not  go  away  in 
less  than  a  day.  On  inquiring  farther,  we  found  that  the 
place  in  question  lay  not  very  far  from  the  road,  and  might 
be  visited  by  a  small  circuit.  As  the  position  seemed  to  an- 
swer well  to  that  of  Shiloh,  we  determined  to  go  thither. 
.  .  .  The  ruins  of  Seilun  are  surrounded  by  hills,  but  look- 
ing out  through  a  small  valley  towards  a  beautiful  plain  .  .  . 


TOPOGEAPHICAL  ACCUEACY.  323 

The  position  is  in  itself  a  fine  one  for  strength,  if  it  were 
ever  fortified,  though  it  is  commanded  by  the  neighboring 
hills.  Among  the  ruins  of  modern  houses  are  many  large 
stones  and  some  fragments  of  columns,  showing  the  place 
to  have  been  an  ancient  site.  Our  guide  told  us  of  a  foun- 
tain up  through  the  narrow  valley  towards  the  east.  We 
went  thither,  and  found  that  the  valley  here  breaks  through 
a  ridge,  and  is  at  first  shut  in  by  perpendicular  walls  of 
rock ;  then  follows  a  more  open  tract ;  and  here,  at  the  left, 
fifteen  minutas  from  Seilun,  is  the  fountain.  The  water  is 
excellent,  and  issues  from  the  rocks  first  into  a  sort  of  arti- 
ficial well,  eight  or  ten  feet  deep,  and  thence  into  a  reservoir 
lower  down.  Many  flocks  and  herds  were  waiting  round 
about.  In  the  sides  of  the  narrow  valley  are  many  exca- 
vated tombs,  now  much  broken  away;  near  the  fountain 
are  also  several. 

"The  position  of  Shiloh  is  very  definitely  described  in 
the  Book  of  Judges  as  '  on  the  north  side  of  Bethel,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  highway  that  goeth  up  from  Bethel  to  She- 
chem,  and  on  the  south  of  Lebonah.'  (Judges  xxi.  19-23.) 
These  circumstances  correspond  exactly  to  Seilftn ;  for  we 
were  on  the  east  of  th^  great  road  between  Bethel  and 
Shechein ;  and  in  passing  on  towards  the  latter  place  we 
came,  after  an  hour,  to  the  village  of  Lebonah,  now  El- 
Lubban.  Here,  then,  was  Shiloh,  where  the  tabernacle  was 
set  up  after  the  country  had  been  subdued  before  the  Israel- 
ites ;  and  where  the  last  and  general  division  of  the  land 
was  made  among  the  tribes.  The  ark  and  tabernacle  long 
continued  here  from  the  days  of  Joshua,  during  the  minis- 
try of  all  the  judges,  until  the  close  of  Eli's  life ;  and  here 
Samuel  was  dedicated  to  God,  and  his  childhood  spent  in 
the  sanctuary.  In  honor  of  the  presence  of  the  ark  there 
was  ( a  feast  of  the  Lord  in  Shiloh  yearly,  during  which  the 
daughters  of  Shiloh  came  out  to  dance  in  dances ;  and  it 
was  on  such  an  occasion  that  they  were  seized  and  carried. 


324  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

off  by  the  remaining  Benjamites  as  wives.  The  scene  of 
these  dances  may  not  improbably  have  been  somewhere 
around  the  fountain  above  described.  From  Shiloh  the  ark 
was  at  length  removed  to  the  army  of  Israel ;  and  being 
captured  by  the  Philistines,  returned  no  more  to  its  former 
place.  Shiloh  henceforth,  though  sometimes  the  residence 
of  prophets,  as  of  Ahijah,  celebrated  in  the  history  of  Jero- 
boam, is  nevertheless  spoken  of  as  forsaken  and  accursed  of 
God.  It  is  mentioned  in  Scripture  during  the  exile,  but  not 
afterwards  ;  and  Jerome  speaks  of  it  in  his  day  as  so  utterly 
in  ruins,  that  the  foundations  of  an  altar  could  scarcely  be 
pointed  out." — Biblical  Researches. 

"  Shiloh  is  so  utterly  featureless,  that,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  preservation  of  its  name  (Seilvin),  and  for  the  extreme 
precision  with  which  its  situation  is  described  in  the  Book 
of  Judges,  the  spot  could  never  have  been  identified ;  and, 
indeed,  from  the  time  of  Jerome  till  the  year  1838,  its  real 
site  was  completely  forgotten,  and  its  name  was  transferred 
to  that  commanding  height  of  Gibeon,  which  a  later  age 
naturally  conceived  to  be  a  more  congenial  spot  for  the 
sacred  place,  where  for  so  many  centuries  was  the  tent 
which  He  had  pitched  among  men^— 

*  Our  living  Dread,  who  dwells 
In  Silo,  his  bright  Sanctuary.' 

Its  ruins  were  scattered  over  a  slight  eminence  which  rises 
in  one  of  those  softer  and  wider  plains  before  noticed  as 
characteristic  of  this  part  of  Palestine,  a  little  removed 
from  the  great  central  route  of  the  country." — STANLEY'S 

Sinai  and  Palestine. 

/ 

SHECHEM. 

"And  Abram  passed  through  the  land  unto  the  place  of  Sichem." — 
GEN.  xii.  6. 

This  celebrated  locality  is  distant  from  Jerusalem  be- 
tween thirty  and  forty  miles,  about  ten  from  Shiloh  and 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  325 

seven  from  the  city  of  Samaria.  Its  present  name  is  Na- 
blus,  a  corruption  of  the  word  Neapolis,  or  new  town,  the 
Greek  name  given  it  by  the  Romans,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
rare  instances  in  which  the  ancient  Oriental  appellation  has 
been  superseded  in  popular  language  by  a  more  modern 
one.  It  is  believed  that  the  present  town  occupies  the  site 
of  the  ancient  one,  but  is  probably  of  more  contracted 
dimensions.  The  sacred  associations  of  Shechem  are  co- 
extensive with  the  history  of  the  entire  Church,  as  recorded 
both  in  the  Old  and  in  the  New  Testaments.  Here  Abra- 
ham first  halted  when  he  had  crossed  the  Jordan  on  his 
way  from  Chaldaea  to  the  land  which  God  should  give  him, 
and  here  God  distinctly  told  him  that  this  was  the  country 
destined  to  be  the  sure  possession  of  his  descendants.  It 
was  afterwards  the  scene  of  many  memorable  events  in  the 
history  of  Israel.  And  here  at  last  came  One,  whose  "  day 
Abraham  saw  afar  off  and  was  glad,"  and  who  was  himself 
"  the  way  "  to  the  everlasting  rest  prepared  for  the  people 
of  God,  of  which  the  earthly  Canaan  was  but  the  type. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  narrow  pass  which  leads  to 
Shechem,  stand  the  two  mounts  known  as  the  mounts 
respectively  of  the  curses  and  of  the  blessings,  Mount  Ebal 
and  Mount  Gerizim.  "  It  was  here  the  affecting  ceremony 
took  place  which  was  commanded  by  Moses,  carried  into 
effect  by  Joshua,  and  never  afterwards  repeated.  Six  of 
the  tribes  stood  over  against  Gerizim  to  bless  the  people, 
and  the  other  six  upon  Ebal  to  curse.  It  would  appear 
that  the  whole  of  the  law  was  read  over  by  Joshua,  and 
that  the  Levites  spoke  unto  all  the  men  of  Israel  with  a 
loud  voice  the  words  of  the  curse,  to  which  the  people 
answered  and  said  Amen.  A  better  situation  could  not 
be  conceived  for  this  purpose,  as  the  hills  are  at  such  a 
distance  from  each  other,  that  the  hosts  of  Israel  might 
stand  between,  and  the  voice  from  either  side  be  heard 
distinctly  on  a  calm  day  throughout  the  whole  assembly. 
It  must  have  been  an  imposing  spectacle:  the  ark  of 


326  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  covenant  in  the  centre,  surrounded  -by  the  elders, 
officers,  and  judges,  with  the  venerable  Joshua  at  their 
head ;  the  banners  of  the  tribes  marking  their  different 
positions,  as  appointed  by  God,  which  they  were  now  to 
occupy  for  the  last  time,  and  the  millions  of  Israel  extend- 
ing in  firm  phalanx  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  it  must 
also  be  remembered  that  every  individual  of  that  vast  com- 
pany had  but  a  little  time  before  beheld  the  most  striking 
wonders  performed  in  their  own  behalf,  the  falling  down 
of  the  walls  of  Jericho,  and  the  dividing  of  the  stream  of  the 
Jordan, — and  when  the  men,  women,  children,  and  stran- 
gers, thinking  on  these  things,  with  one  voice  shouted 
Amen,  the  acclaim  must  have  reverberated  among  the 
rocks  around  with  true  sublimity,  and  have  swelled  in 
majestic  volumes  towards  heaven 

"The  hills  are  of  equal  height,  about  800  feet  above 
the  plain,  and  are  neither  of  them  cultivated,  but  Gerizim 
has  the  more  pleasing  appearance." — HAKDY'S  Notices  of 
the  Holy  Land. 

Between  these  mountains,  in  its  hallowed  seclusion  lies 
the  spot  which  links  together  the  sacred  history  of  more 
than  three  thousand  years,  but  which  is  specially  memor- 
able from  the  fact  that  here  took  place  the  first  recognition 
of  the  Son  of  God,  as  not  only  the  Jewish  Messiah,  the 
Christ,  but  the  Desire  of  all  nations,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  The  whole  valley  is  still  remarkable  for  its  beauty, 
and  excites  the  admiration  of  travellers.  It  abounds  in 
rich  gardens,  delightful  groves,  stately  trees,  and  fragrant 
bowers.  "  One  could  fancy,"  says  an  elegant  writer,  "  that 
the  powers  of  life  in  nature  had  been  unfettered  here  ever 
since,  in  virtue  of  that  acknowledgment ;  and  that  the  val- 
ley of  Sychar  (Shechem)  was  ever  after  to  be  a  fragment 
and  foretaste  of  paradise, — a  place  of  streams  and  rest,  full 
of  all  manner  of  trees  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  and  good  for 
food,  a  little  spot  of  earth  visibly  subject  to  the  life-giving 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  327 

sceptre  of  the  c  second  Man,'  the  Lord  from  Heaven.  No 
place  to  be  compared  with  this  in  fertility  and  beauty  ex- 
ists, it  is  said,  in  Palestine." 

"We  inquired  of  the  Samaritans  respecting  Jacob's 
Well.  They  said  they  acknowledged  the  tradition,  and 
regarded  it  as  having  belonged  to  the  patriarch.  It  lies 
at  the  mouth  of  the  valley,  near  the  south  side,  and  is  the 
same  which  the  Christians  sometimes  call '  Well  of  the 
Samaritan  woman."  They  acknowledge,  also,  the  tomb 
near  by  as  the  place  of  Joseph's  burial ;  though  the  pres- 
ent building  is  only  a  Mohammedan  tomb.  Late  as  it 
was,  we  took  a  Christian  guide  and  set  off  for  Jacob's 

Well The  well  bears  evident  marks  of  antiquity, 

but  was  now  dry  and  deserted  ;  it  was  said  usually  to  con- 
tain living  water,  and  not  merely  to  be  filled  by  the  rains. 
A  large  stone  was  laid  loosely  over,  or  rather  in  its  mouth ; 
and  as  the  hour  was  now  late,  and  the  twilight  nearly  gone, 
we  made  no  attempt  to  remove  the  stone  and  examine  the 
vaulted  entrance  below.  We  had  also  no  line  with  us,  at 
the  moment,  to  measure  the  well ;  but  by  dropping  in 
stones  we  could  perceive  that  it  was  deep.  .  .  . 

....  "I  think  we  may  rest  with  confidence  in  the 
opinion  that  this  is  Jacob's  Well,  and  here  the  parcel  of 
ground  which  Jacob  gave  to  his  son  Joseph.  Here  the 
Saviour,  wearied  with  his  journey,  sat  upon  the  well,  and 
taught  the  poor  Samaritan  woman  those  great  truths  which 
have  broken  down  the  separating  wall  between  Jews  and 
Gentiles  :  '  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.'  Here,  too,  as  the  peo- 
ple flocked  from  the  city  to  hear  him,  He  pointed  his  dis- 
ciples to  the  waving  fields  which  decked  the  noble  plain 
around,  exclaiming,  '  Say  not  ye,  there  are  yet  four  months, 
and  then  cometh  harvest  ?  behold  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up 
your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields ;  for  they  are  white  already 
to  the  harvest." — ROBINSON'S  Bib.  Res. 


328  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

"  About  a  hundred  yards  off  (from  the  well)  is  Joseph's 
Tomb.  Whether  by  accident  or  design,  a  luxuriant  vine 
had  made  its  way  over  the  wall  that  encloses  the  tomb,  and 
was  now  waving  its  branches  from  the  top,  as  if  to  recall 
to  mind  the  prophetical  description  of  this  favored  tribe, 
4  Joseph  is  a  fruitful  bough,  even  a  fruitful  bough  by  a  well, 
whose  branches  run  over  the  wall."  The  beautiful  field 
around  it  is,  no  doubt,  the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob 
gave  to  his  son  Joseph,  taking  it  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
Amorite  with  his  sword  and  with  his  bow." — WILSON'S 
Lands  of  the  Bible. 


SAMAEIA- 

"  And  (Omri)  bought  the  hill  Samaria  ot  Shemer  for  two  talents  of 
silver,  and  built  on  the  hill,  and  called  the  name  of  the  city  which  he  built, 
after  the  name  of  Shemer,  owner  of  the  hill,  Samaria.  .  .  . 

"And  Ahab  the  son  of  Omri  reigned  over  Israel,  in  Samaria,  twenty  and 
two  years." — 1  KINGS  xvi.  24,  29. 

The  above  Scripture  statement  respecting  the  origin 
of  Samaria  has  received  a  remarkable  confirmation  by  a 
discovery  of  Mr.  Layard.  In  exploring  the  ruins  of  Nine- 
veh, he  met  with  a  tablet  on  which  the  city  was  named 
Beth  Khumri  or  Omri.  As  he  was  the  builder  of  the  city, 
it  was  in  accordance  with  Eastern  custom  that  it  should 
be  called  after  its  founder.  The  presence  of  such  a  tablet 
at  Nineveh  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  Assyrians 
destroyed  Samaria  after  a  siege  of  three  years,  and  carried 
its  inhabitants  into  captivity.  (2  Kings  xvii.  5). 

Samaria  became  the  capital  of  the  ten  revolted  tribes. 
"  It  had  the  winter  house,  and  the  summer  house,  and  the 
houses  of  ivory.  The  wicked  Ahab  erected  on  this  hill  an 
altar  to  Baal ;  in  this  plain  Benhadad,  king  of  Assyria,  was 
routed ;  in  the  gate  of  this  city  sat  the  king  of  Israel  and 
the  king  of  Judah,  each  in  his  robes,  and  upon  a  throne, 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  329 

when  the  false  prophets  delivered  their  ambiguous  predic- 
tion, and  Micaiah  declared  the  word  of  the  Lord ;  in  that 
pool  the  dogs  licked  the  blood  of  Ahab,  as  they  had  for- 
merly licked  the  blood  of  Naboth  his  victim;  up  that 
ascent  have  often  toiled  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha, 
bearing  messages  of  wrath  from  the  Most  High ;  within 
these  walls  there  has  been  a  great  famine,  so  that  '  an  ass's 
head  sold  for  four  score  pieces  of  silver,  and  a  woman 
boiled  her  own  son  and  did  eat  him ' ;  it  was  from  hence 
that  the  host  of  the  Syrians  fled,  because  the  Lord  made 
them  to  hear  a  noise  of  chariots  and  a  noise  of  horses, 
leaving  their  camp,  as  it  was,  a  prey  to  the  famished  Sa- 
maritans ;  it  was  here  that  Jehu  slew  the  worshippers  of 
Baal,  and  brake  down  their  images ;  it  was  after  enduring 
a  siege  of  three  years  in  this  capital  that  Hoshea,  the  last 
of  its  kings,  was  carried  away  captive  by  the  king  of 
Assyria ;  it  contained  the  royal  sepulchre  of  Israel ;  the 
Gospel  was  here  preached  by  Philip,  and  confirmed  by 
Peter  and  John,  to  whom  Simon,  the  sorcerer,  offered 
money,  that  he  inigty;  receive  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  it 
suffered  in  common  with  its  more  guilty  rival,  when  Pales- 
tine was  subdued  by  the  Roman  power." — HARDY'S  No- 
tices of  the  Holy  Land. 

Dr.  Keith,  after  visiting  Samaria,  writes :  "  Few  seats 
of  royalty  can  rival  its  princely  site.  Its  local  position  is 
most  peculiar,  of  a  finely  varied  and  oblong  form.  The 
isolated  hill  of  Samaria,  with  a  flattened  summit,  seems  as 
if  it  had  been  raised  by  nature  at  *  the  head  of  the  fat 
valley,'  to  be  at  once  a  stronghold  and  royal  seat.  But 
now  Samaria  is  become  '  as  an  heap  of  the  field,  and  as 
plantings  of  a  vineyard.'  Stones  abound  in  the  mountain- 
ous regions  of  Israel ;  and  it  is  evident  that  in  their  terraced 
vineyards  the  stones  have  been  gathered  out  of  the  level 
spaces  which  are  occupied  only  by  the  soil,  and  when  freed 
from  them  were  fitted  for  planting.  In  some  fields  in  the 


330  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

valleys,  the  stones  have  been  gathered  up,  and  have  been 
cast  into  heaps  which  thus  form  literally  'heaps  of  the 
field.'  Samaria,  it  is  recorded,  was  utterly  demolished 
after  its  first  siege,  and  must  then  have  formed  a  great 
mass  of  ruins.  Herod  rebuilt  it,  and  it  has  again  been  laid 
low  and  reduced  to  be  as  an  heap  of  the  field.  The  stones, 
which  yet  lie  on  its  surface,  bereaved  of  the  glory  that 
might  seem  to  hover  around  a  ruin,  however  defaced,  have 
been  gathered  singly,  and  cast  into  heaps,  as  if  they  were 
heaps  of  a  field,  and  not  the  remains  of  a  capital.  The 
ground  has  been  cleared  of  them  to  form  the  gardens  or 
patches  of  cultivated  ground  possessed  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  wretched  village,  which  stands  on  the  extremity  of 
the  site  of  the  ancient  city.  The  stones,  as  if  in  a  field  or 
vineyard,  have  manifestly  been  gathered  up  in  heaps,  to 
prepare  the  ground  for  being  sown  or  planted.  Lines  of 
columns  now  stand  in  a  field  which  was  covered  when  we 
saw  it  with  a  crop  of  ripe  barley,  that  was  overtopped  in 
various  places  with  sixteen  heaps  of  stones  within  the 
space  enclosed  by  the  ancient  colonn^le.  The  foundations 
of  buildings  remain  in  some  places,  in  long  lines,  low  as 
when  they  first  were  laid;  and  the  beasts  of  the  field 
browse  among  the  trees  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley  and 
hills,  and  pasture  upon  the  terraces,  where  once  were  vine- 
yards, but  where  now,  after  much  searching,  the  leaf  of  a 
wild  vine  only  was  found." — Incidents  of  Travel^  vol.  ii. 
p.  301. 

"  The  vast  temple  of  Baal  was  there  erected,  which 
Jehu  destroyed ;  and  in  later  times,  Herod  chose  it  alone 
out  of  the  ancient  capitals  of  the  north,  to  adorn  with  the 
name  and  with  the  temple  of  Augustus,  from  which  time 
it  assumed  the  appellation  which  with  a  slight  change  it 
has  borne  ever  since,  'Sebaste.'  And  now,  although  its 
existence  has  but  been  brought  fully  to  light  within  the 
last  few  years,  it  is  the  only  site  in  western  Palestine,  be- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCUEACY.  331 

sides  Jerusalem,  which  exhibits  relics  of  ancient  architectu- 
ral beauty.  A  long  avenue  of  broken  pillars,  apparently 
the  main  street  of  Herod's  city,  here,  as  at  Palmyra  and 
Damascus,  adorned  by  a  colonnade  on  each  side,  still  lines 
the  topmost  terrace  of  the  hill.  The  Gothic  ruin  of  the 
church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  parent  of  the  numerous 
churches  which  bear  his  name  throughout  the  West,  re- 
mains over  what  Christians  and  the  Mussulman  inhabitants 
still  revere  as  the  grave  '  of  the  Prophet  John,  son  of  Zach- 
arias,'  round  which  in  the  days  of  Jerome  the  same  wild 
orgies  were  performed  which  are  now  to  be  seen  round 
'  the  Holy  Sepulchre.'  " — STANLEY'S  Sinai  and  Palestine. 

"The  prophecy  concerning  Samaria  is  most  distinct, 
and  its  fulfilment  has  been  exact.  I  wish  an  infidel  could 
have  stood  with  me  and  compared  the  present  state  of 
Samaria,  even  in  minute  particulars,  with  the  prophecy  of 
Micah,  which  I  read  on  the  spot.  Though  Israel's  mon- 
archs  there  swayed  the  sceptre — though  there  Herod 
reigned  and  revelled — though  pomp  and  splendor  and  the 
glory  of  this  world  there  shone  and  dazzled  the  thousands 
of  Israel — yet,  Samaria  is  a  desolation.  The  sceptres  are 
broken — the  revel  is  hushed — the  splendor  has  faded.  Sa- 
maria is  as  an  heap  in  the  field,  and  as  the  plantings  of  a 
vineyard ;  her  stones  have  been  literally  poured  down  into 
the  valley — her  foundations  have  been  indeed  discovered — 
and  there  they  now  lie ;  while  from  every  heap  and  from 
every  fragment  there  goes  forth  as  it  were  a  testimony 
which  cannot  be  silenced,  to  the  righteous  severity  of  an 
angry  God." — FISK'S  Pastor's  Memorial. 

DOTHAN. 

"  And  Joseph  went  after  his  brethren,  and  found  them  in  Dothan." — 
GEN.  xxxvii.  17. 

About  twelve  miles  north  of  Samaria,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  scenes  in  Old  Testament  history  has  recently 


332  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

been  discovered.  "  A  few  years  ago,  M.  Van  de  Velde, 
when  passing  through  the  plain  of  Jenin,  had  his  attention 
arrested  by  a  singular  looking  tell  (height),  rising  up  like 
an  island  near  the  margin  of  the  level  ground,  and  evident- 
ly covered  with  ruins.  '  What  place  is  that  ? '  said  he  to  the 
sheikh  who  was  at  that  time  his  guide.  Haida-Dothan — 
( That  is  Dothan,'  was  his  immediate  and  unhesitating  reply. 
'Dothan'?  said  Van  de  Velde,  in  an  inquiring  tone,  to 
make  sure  that  he  had  not  mistaken  the  sheikh's  answer. 
Ndhm,  Dothan — Dothan — Dothan — '  Yes,  Dothan,'  was 
his  reply,  repeating  the  word  three  times  over,  and  evi- 
dently piqued  at  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  doubting  of 
his  word.  This  important  fact  of  the  still  surviving  name, 
when  put  alongside  also  of  the  testimony  of  Eusebius  and 
Jerome,  may  be  considered  as  having  conclusively  settled 
the  point  of  its  identification.  It  is  certain  that  the  Dothan 
of  Scripture  stood  on  an  isolated  height.  The  following 
facts  plainly  prove  this :  When  Benhadad  sent  a  military 
force  to  seize  Elisha  in  Dothan,  they  '  came  by  night,  and 
compassed  the  city  round  about?  In  the  morning,  when 
the  prophet's  servant  looked  down  from  his  master's  place 
of  refuge,  and  saw  that  they  were  hemmed  in  on  every 
side,  he  was  filled  with  terror.  To  relieve  his  fear,  the 
Lord,  at  the  request  of  the  prophet,  opened  the  servant's 
eyes,  and  showed  him  the  multitudes  of  the  heavenly  host 
by  whom  they  were  defended ;  in  describing  whom  the 
sacred  historian  says  that  '  the  mountain  (or  mount)  was 
full  of  horses  of  fire  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Eli- 
sha.' The  whole  Scripture  statement  conveys  just  such  an 
idea  of  the  position  of  Dothan,  as  answers  most  exactly  to 
the  isolated  eminence  to  which  Abu  Monsur,  the  guide  of 
Van  de  Velde,  gave  that  name.  Further  still,  the  Scrip- 
ture Dothan  must  have  stood  near  the  leading  thorough- 
fare by  which  the  Ishmaelite  merchants  of  the  East  were 
wont  to  cross  the  land  of  Canaan  on  their  way  to  Egypt. 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  333 

It  was  to  a  caravan  of  these  merchants  that  Joseph  was 
sold  by  his  envious  brethren.  They  had  cast  him  into  a 
pit  or  dry  well  at  Dothan,  intending  apparently  to  leave 
him  to  die  there,  when  'they  lifted  up  their  eyes  and 
looked,  and  behold  a  company  of  Ishmaelites  came  from 
Gilead  with  their  camels  bearing  spicery,  and  balm,  and 
myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to  Egypt.'  (Gen.  xxxvii. 
25).  Now,  this  tell  of  Van  de  Velde  is  in  just  such  a 
position.  The  camel  road  in  the  direct  line  from  the  coun- 
try of  Gilead,  that  leads  across  the  country  to  the  plain  of 
Sharon,  and  so  southward  along  the  seacoast  to  Egypt, 
passes  to  this  day  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  place." 
— BUCHANAN'S  Clerical  Furlough. 


MOUNT  CARMEL. 

"  The  excellency  of  Carmel." — ISAIAH  xxxv.  2. 
"  The  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither."— AMOS  i.  2. 

The  word  Carmel  is  derived  from  a  verb  signifying  to 
"be  noble,  and  answers  to  the  English  word  "  park."  It 
was  used  to  indicate  a  fruitful  field,  or  a  well  wooded 
country,  in  contradistinction  to  a  wilderness  or  forest  land. 
There  are  two  places  of  this  name  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
which  should  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  to  prevent  a  con- 
fusion of  ideas  in  reading  the  Old  Testament.  "  That  long 
line  of  hills,"  says  a  modern  traveller,  describing  his  en- 
trance into  Canaan  from  the  south,  "  was  the  beginning  of 
the  hill  country  of  Judea ;  and  when  we  began  to  ascend, 
the  first  answer  to  our  inquiries  about  the  route  told  that 
it  was  Carmel;  not  the  more  famous  mountain  of  that 
name,  but  that  on  which  Nabal  fed  his  flocks."  Carmel  is, 
indeed,  mentioned  in  the  Bible  in  connection  with  the  con- 
quest and  division  of  Canaan  by  Joshua.  But  it  is  in  the 
reigns  of  David  and  Ahab,  kings  of  Israel,  that  the  name 


334  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

"Carmel"  becomes  associated  with  instructive  events  of 
sacred  history. 

The  northern  Carmel,  or  that  of  Ahab  and  Elijah,  was 
the  boundary  of  the  possessions  of  the  tribe  of  Asher  west- 
ward, and  forms  one  of  the  most  remarkable  headlands  on 
the  whole  coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  "  It  is  no  place," 
writes  Mr.  Carne,  "  for  crags  and  precipices,  or  rocks  of 
the  wild  goats ;  it  is  the  finest  and  most  beautiful  moun- 
tain in  Palestine — in  many  parts  covered  with  trees  and 
flowers."  To  its  woods  were  compared,  by  Solomon,  the 
glossy  tresses  of  his  bride's  head.  Its  rich  garniture  is  re- 
garded by  Isaiah  as  the  type  of  natural  beauty ;  and  the 
withering  of  its  fruits  is  considered  by  him  and  other 
prophets  as  the  type  of  national  desolation.  It  is  not  so 
much  a  mountain  as  an  upland  park.  It  extends  from  the 
sea  many  miles  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  On  the 
top  of  the  part  close  to  the  sea  is  now  a  convent  of  bare- 
footed monks,  deriving  their  distinctive  name  from  the 
locality,  and  celebrated  throughout  Europe  as  the  Carmel- 
ite monks.  Below,  towards  the  sea,  i.  e.,  in  the  cliffs  that 
front  the  water,  are  caverns,  many  in  number  and  curiously 
constructed.  These,  it  is  supposed,  were  the  hiding  places 
of  the  prophets  of  the  true  God  when  persecuted  by  the 
idolatrous  Jezebel.  The  remarkable  adaptation  of  these 
caverns,  close  to  the  sea,  for  the  purpose  of  concealment,  is 
confirmed  by  Amos,  when  he  says  that  even  their  intricate 
and  dark  recesses  could  not  conceal  the  wicked  from  the 
eye  of  the  Omniscient  One :  "  Though  they  hide  them- 
selves in  the  top  of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take  them 
out  thence ;  and  though  they  be  hid  from  my  sight  in  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  thence  will  I  command  the  serpent,  and 
he  shall  bite  them." 

The  excellency  of  Carmel  has  passed  away,  and  the 
prophet's  curse  has  fallen  upon  it ;  the  top  of  Carmel  has 
withered.  Its  steep  sides  are  often  barren  and  desolate, 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  335 

while  wild  vines  and  olives  (showing  that  it  had  formerly 
been  cultivated),  met  with  among  the  brambles,  together 
with  oaks  and  cedars,  attest  its  former  luxuriance. 

Lamartine  thus  describes  a  storm  on  Mount  Carmel: 
"  I  have  witnessed  few  so  terrible.  The  clouds  rose  per- 
pendicularly, like  towers  above  Mount  Carmel,  and  soon 
covered  all  the  length  of  the  summit  of  this  chain  of  hills. 
The  mountain  just  now  so  brilliant  and  serene,  was  plunged 
by  degrees  in  rolling  waves  of  darkness,  split  here  and 
there  by  trains  of  fire.  The  horizon  seemed  to  close 
around  us, — the  thunder  did  not  burst  in  claps — it  threw 
out  one  single  majestic  rolling,  continual  and  deafening. 
The  lightning  might  be  truly  said  to  rush  like  torrents  of 
fire  from  the  heavens,  on  the  black  flanks  of  Carmel.  The 
oaks  on  the  mount  and  on  the  hill  on  which  we  were  jour- 
neying, bent  like  young  plants.  The  winds  which  rushed 
from  the  caverns,  and  from  between  the  hills,  must  have 
swept  us  from  our  horses,  if  ..we  had  not  speedily  alighted, 
and  found  a  little  shelter  behind  a  fragment  of  rock  in  the 
then  dry  bed  of  a  torrent.  The  withered  leaves,  upraised 
in  masses  by  the  storm,  were  carried  above  our  heads  like 
clouds,  and  the  slender,  broken  branches  of  the  trees  shower- 
ed around  us.  I  remembered  the  Bible  and  the  prodigies  of 
Elijah.  .  .  .  The  storm  abated  in  about  half  an  hour. 
We  continued  our  route  along  the  foot  of  Mount  Carmel, 
which  we  traced  in  this  way,  during  a  march  of  about  four 
hours.  It  presented  everywhere  the  same  severe  and 
solemn  aspect.  It  is  a  gigantic  rock,  rising  almost  perpen- 
dicularly, and  everywhere  covered  by  a  bed  of  shrubs  and 
odoriferous  herbs.  The  rock  is  seldom  entirely  naked." 
"  In  Leviticus  xxvi.  22,  we  read  that  wild  beasts  were  to 
be  sent  amongst  the  people  of  that  land  for  their  iniquities ; 
even  that  has  a  present  accomplishment.  The  monks  of 
Mount  Carmel  reported  that  in  consequence  of  the  disarm- 
ing of  the  people,  and  the  great  decrease  of  their  numbers, 


336  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

wild  beasts  were  increasing  on  Mount  Carmel  to  an  alarm- 
ing degree." — Travels,  pp.  255,  358. 

"  From  this  we  descended  into  a  valley,  passed  over  a 
plain,  and  after  that  again  ascended  another  valley,  all  be- 
longing to  the  finest  parts  of  Carmel.  At  every  step  the 
ancient  glory  of  Carmel  now  became  more  and  more  evi- 
dent to  me.  What  a  memorable  morning  in  this  wild 
flower  garden !  It  was  at  the  most  inviting  season,  too,  for 
it  was  spring.  The  verdure  is  now  fresh  and  vivid ;  the 
vertical  sun  of  summer  has  not  yet  scorched  it.  The  haw- 
thorn, the  jasmin,  and  many  another  tree  and  shrub,  whose 
sweetly  odorous  and  elegant  bunches  of  blossom  are  un- 
known to  me  by  name,  are  now  in  flower.  Now  it  is  that 
the  fir  tree  exhales  its  resinous  particles  most  powerfully; 
the  oak,  the  myrtle,  and  the  laurel  have  tempered  their 
dark  winter  green  with  glittering  leaflets  of  a  lighter  hue. 
And  what  a  variety  of  sorts  of  flowers  are  trodden  upon 
by  the  traveller  on  his  way  !  There  is  not  one  that  I  have 
seen  in  Galilee,  or  on  the  plains  along  the  coast,  that  I  do 
not  find  here  again  on  Carmel,  from  the  crocuses  on  the 
rocky  grounds  to  the  fennel  plants  and  narcissuses  of  the 
Leontes  ;  from  the  intense  red,  white,  and  purple  anemones 
of  the  plains  to  the  ferns  that  hide  themselves  in  the  dark 
sepulchral  caves.  Yes ;  Carmel,  indeed,  is  still  Carmel ; 
the  fruitful,  the  graceful,  the  fragrant,  the  lovely  mountain 
that  he  was  in  the  days  of  old.  But  his  glory,  his  attire,  is 
hidden,  is  c  withered,'  according  to  God's  word,  so  that  the 
traveller  along  the  common  highways  beholds  it  not." — 
VAN  DE  VELDE'S  Syria  and  Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  347. 

It  is  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  Carmel  that  we  are  to 
look  for  the  scene  of  its  grand  and  lasting  associations. 
Its  summit  there  commands  the  last  view  of  the  sea  behind, 
and  the  first  view  of  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  in  front. 
This  spot  is,  to  this  day,  called  in  Arabic  language,  the 
burning,  or  the  sacrifice.  The  tradition  which  thus  points 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  337 

it  out  as  the  place  of  the  sacrifice  of  Elijah,  is  corroborated 
by  the  fact  that  the  localities  adapt  themselves  to  the  event 
in  every  particular.  "  There,  on  the  highest  ridge  of  the 
mountain,  may  well  have  stood,"  says  Mr.  Stanley,  "  on  its 
sacred  '  high  place,'  the  altar  of  the  Lord  which  Jezebel  had 
cast  down.  Close  beneath,  on  a  wide  upland  sweep,  under 
the  shade  of  ancient  olives,  and  round  a  well  of  water,  said 
to  be  perennial,  and  which  may  therefore  have  escaped  the 
general  drought,  and  have  been  able  to  furnish  water  for 
the  trenches  round  the  altar,  must  have  been  ranged,  on 
one  side  the  king  and  people,  with  the  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  prophets  of  Baal  and  Astarte,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  solitary  and  commanding  figure  of  the  Prophet  of  the 
Lord.  Full  before  them  opened  the  whole  plain  of  Esdrae- 
lon,  with  Tabor  and  its  kindred  ranges  in  the  distance  ;  on 
the  rising  ground,  at  the  opening  of  its  valley,  the  city  of 
Jezreel,  with  Ahab's  palace  and  Jezebel's  temple  distinctly 
visible;  in  the  nearer  foreground,  immediately  under  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  was  clearly  seen  the  winding  stream 
of  the  Kishon,  working  its  way  through  the  narrow  pass  of 
the  hills  into  the  bay  of  Acre.  Such  a  scene,  with  such 
recollections  of  the  past,  with  such  sights  of  the  present, 
was  indeed  a  fitting  theatre  for  a  conflict  more  momentous 
than  any  which  their  ancestors  had  fought  in  the  plain  be- 
low. This  is  not  the  place  to  enlarge  upon  the  intense  so- 
lemnity and  significance  of  that  conflict  which  lasted  on  the 
mountain  height  from  morning  till  noon,  from  noon  till 
the  time  of  the  evening  sacrifice.  It  ended  at  last  in  the 
level  plain  below,  where  Elijah  brought  the  defeated  proph- 
ets '  down '  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain  '  to  the  "  tor- 
rent "  of  the  Kishon,  and  slew  them  there.' 

"  The  closing  scene  still  remains.     From  the  slaughter 

by  the  side  of  the  Kishon,  the  king .'  went  up  '  at  Elijah's 

bidding  once  again  to  the  peaceful  glades  of  Carmel,  to  join 

in  the  sacrificial  feast.     And  Elijah,  too,  ascended  to  '  the 

15 


338  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

top  of  the  mountain,'  and  there,  with  his  face  upon  the  earth, 
remained  wrapt  in  prayer,  whilst  his  servant  mounted  to  the 
highest  point  of  all,  whence  there  is  a  wide  view  of  the 
blue  reach  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  over  the  Western 
shoulder  of  the  ridge.  The  sun  was  now  gone  down,  but 
the  cloudless  sky  was  lit  up  with  the  long  bright  glow  which 
succeeds  an  Eastern  sunset.  Seven  times  the  servant  climbed 
and  looked,  and  seven  times  there  was  nothing ;  the  sky 
was  still  clear,  the  sea  was  still  calm.  At  last,  out  of  the 
far  horizon  there  rose  a  little  cloud — the  first  that  had  for 
days  and  months  passed  across  the  heavens — and  it  grew  in 
the  deepening  shades  of  evening,  and  at  last  the  whole  sky 
was  overcast,  and  the  forests  of  Carmel  shook  in  the  wel- 
come sound  of  those  mighty  winds  which  in  Eastern  regions 
precede  a  coming  tempest.  Each  from  his  separate  height, 
the  king  and  the  prophet  descended.  And  the  king  mount- 
ed his  chariot  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  lest  the  long- 
hoped-for  rain  should  swell  the  torrent  of  the  Kishon,  as  in 
the  days  when  it  swept  away  the  host  of  Sisera ;  and  c  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  Elijah,'  and  he  girt  his  mantle 
round  his  loins,  and,  amidst  the  rushing  storm  with  which 
the  night  closed  in, '  ran  before  the  chariot,'  as  the  Bedouins 
of  his  native  Gilead  still  run,  with  inexhaustible  strength,  to 
the  entrance  of  Jezreel,  distant,  though  still  visible,  from 
the  scene  of  his  triumph — the  top  of  Carmel." — STANLEY'S 
Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  354-356. 

JEZEEEL. 
"  And  Ahab  rode,  and  went  to  Jezreel." — 1  KINGS  xviii.  45. 

The  city  to  which  Ahab  rode  from  Carmel,  attended  by 
Elijah,  was  his  favorite  residence  and  the  chief  seat  of  his 
dynasty  for  three  successive  reigns.  It  has  been  identified 
with  the  modern  Zer'in,  which  is  a  mere  collection  of  hovels ; 
but  though  its  splendor  has  vanished,  enough  remains  in  its 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  339 

natural  features  to  illustrate  the  most  striking  incidents  in 
the  scenes  in  which  it  appears  in  the  Sacred  History,  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  house  of  Ahab. 

"  Our  grand  object  to-day  was  the  position  of  the  an- 
cient Jezreel.  .  .  .  Setting  out  from  Jenin  (at  a  quarter  to 
five  in  the  morning)  we  struck  out  upon  the  noble  plain  .  .  . 
towards  the  western  extremity  of  the  mountains  of  Gilboa. 
...  At  seven  o'clock  we  reached  Zer'in.  ...  As  we  ap- 
proached (it)  there  was  only  a  very  gentle  rise  of  the  sur- 
face, like  a  low  swell ;  and  it  was  therefore  unexpected  to 
us,  on  reaching  Zer'in,  to  find  it  standing  upon  the  brow  of 
a  very  steep  rocky  descent,  of  one  hundred  feet  or  more 
towards  the  northeast,  where  the  land  sinks  off  at  once  into 
a  great  fertile  valley,  running  down  along  the  northern  wall 
of  the  mountains  of  Gilboa.  This  valley  is  itself  a  broad 
deep  plain  .  .  .  enclosed  between  the  ranges  of  Gilboa  and 
little  Hermon,  (and)  about  an  hour  in  breadth ;  and  below 
Zer'in  continues  down  quite  to  the  plain  of  the  Jordan  at 
Bethshan.  We  could  see  the  acropolis  of  Bethshan  lying 
much  lower  than  Zer'in. 

"  In  the  valley  directly  under  Zer'in  is  a  considerable 
fountain ;  and  twenty  minutes  further  east  another  larger 
one,  under  the  northern  side  of  Gilboa,  called  'Ain  Jalud. 
Zer'in  itself  thus  lies  comparatively  high,  and  commands  a 
wide  and  noble  view ;  extending  down  the  broad  low  valley 
on  the  east  to  Beisan,  and  to  the  mountains  beyond  the 
Jordan  ;  while  towards  the  west  it  includes  the  whole  great 
plain  quite  to  the  long  ridge  of  Carmel.  It  is  a  most  mag- 
nificent site  for  a  city ;  which,  being  itself  such  a  conspicuous 
object  in  every  part,  would  naturally  give  its  name  to  the 
whole  region.  There  could,  therefore,  be  little  question 
that  we  had  before  and  around  us  the  city,  the  plain,  the 
valley,  and  the  fountain  of  the  ancient  Jezreel.1 

»  Valley  of  Jezreel,  Josh.  xvii.  16  ;  Judges  vi.  33 ;  Hos.  i.  5.    Fountain  at 
Jezreel,  1  Sam.  xxix.  1. 


340  .     TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

"  Jezreel  is  first  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  tribe  of 
Issachar ;  and  it  constituted  afterwards  a  part  of  the  king- 
dom of  Ishbosheth.  It  became  more  notorious  under  Ahab 
and  Jezebel,  who,  though  residing  at  Samaria,  had  a  palace 
here ;  and  it  was  to  enlarge  the  grounds  of  this  palace  that 
the  king  desired  the  vineyard  of  Naboth,  and  gave  occasion 
for  the  sad  story  of  the  latter. 

"  In  the  retributions  of  Divine  Providence,  the  same 
place  became  the  scene  of  the  massacre  of  Jezebel  herself, 
her  son  Joram,  and  all  the  house  of  Ahab,  by  the  hand  of 
Jehu." — ROBINSON'S  Bib.  Res.  vol.  iii,  p.  168. 

It  has  already  been  noticed  that  the  surrounding  locali- 
ties illustrate  the  sacred  narrative  of  these  awful  scenes. 
"  We  see  how  up  the  valley  from  the  Jordan,  Jehu's  troop 
might  be  seen  advancing, — how  in  Naboth's  'field'  the 
two  sovereigns  met  the  relentless  soldier, — how,  whilst 
Joram  died  on  the  spot,  Ahaziah  drove  down  the  west- 
ward plain,  towards  the  mountain-pass  by  the  village  of 
En-gannim  (Jenin),  but  was  overtaken  in  the  ascent,  and 
died  of  his  wounds  at  Megiddo  ;  how  in  the  open  place, 
which,  as  usual  in  Eastern  towns,  lay  before  the  gates  of 
Jezreel,  the  body  of  the  queen  was  trampled  under  the 
hoofs  of  Jehu's  horses ;  how  the  dogs  gathered  round  it, 
as  even  to  this  day,  in  the  wretched  village  now  seated  on 
the  ruins  of  the  once  splendid  city  of  Jezreel,  they  prowl 
on  the  mounds  without  the  walls  for  the  offal  and  carrion 
thrown  out  to  them  to  consume." — STANLEY'S  Sinai  and 
Palestine,  p.  342. 

"  The  valley  of  Jezreel  is  celebrated  in  Scripture  history 
for  the  remarkable  victory  of  Gideon,  and  the  last  fatal 
overthrow  of  Saul.  The  Midianites,  the  Amalekites,  and 
the  children  of  the  East  had  come  over  Jordan  and  pitched 
in  the  valley  of  Jezreel :  and  Gideon  had  gathered  the 
Israelites  of  the  northern  tribes  together,  and  encamped 
at  the  well  of  Harod,  probably  on  Mount  Gilboa ;  since 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCUBACY.  341 

the  host  of  Midian  was  beneath  him  in  the  valley.  Here 
Gideon  went  down  to  the  host,  and  heard  the  dream ;  and 
then,  with  his  three  hundred  men,  attacked  and  miracu- 
lously routed  the  whole  host  of  Midian.  Against  Saul,  the 
Philistines  came  up  and  pitched  in  Shunem,  and  Saul  and 
all  Israel  pitched  in  Gilboa;  afterward  the  Philistines 
are  said  to  be  at  Aphek,  and  the  Israelites  at  a  fountain  in 
Jezreel,  doubtless  the  present  'Ain  Jalud.  Forsaken  of 
God,  and  in  the  depth  of  his  despair,  Saul  now  crossed 
over  the  ridge  of  the  little  Hermon  to  Endor,  to  consult 
the  sorceress.  The  battle  took  place  next  day ;  c  the  men 
of  Israel  fled  from  before  the  Philistines,  and  fell  down  slain 
in  Mount  Gilboa ; '  and  Saul  and  his  three  sons  were  found 
among  the  dead.  The  Philistines  cut  off  his  head,  stripped 
the  dead  body,  and  then  listened  it  to  the  wall  of  Beth- 
shau.  Thus,  in  the  language  of  David's  pathetic  elegy, 
*  The  beauty  of  Israel  was  slain  upon  thy  high  places ! ' 
and  hence  the  curse  upon  the  scene  of  slaughter :  *  Ye 
mountains  of  Gilboa,  let  there  be  no  dew,  neither  ram 
upon  you,  nor  fields  of  offering.' 

"  Leaving  Jezreel  at  half-past  seven,  we  descended  to 
the  fountain  below  the  village,  by  a  steep  and  rocky  path. 
The  water  is  copious  and  good.  From  here  we  proceeded 
down  the  valley  twenty  minutes  to  'Ain  Jalud,  a  very  large 
fountain,  flowing  out  from  under  a  sort  of  cavern  in  the 
wall  of  conglomerate  rock,  which  here  forms  the  base  of 
Gilboa.  The  water  is  excellent ;  and,  issuing  from  crevices 
in  the  rocks,  it  spreads  out  at  once  into  a  fine  limpid  pool, 
in  which  great  numbers  of  fish  were  sporting.  From  the 
reservoir,  a  stream  sufficient  to  turn  a  mill  flows  off  down 
the  valley.  There '  is  every  reason  to  regard  this  (or  the 
other  fountain  below  the  town,  as  Dr.  Wilson  thinks)  as 
the  ancient  fountain  of  Jezreel,  where  Saul  and  Jonathan 
pitched  before  their  last  fatal  battle;  and  where,  too,  in 
the  days  of  the  crusades,  Saladin  and  the  Christians  sue- 


342  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLE. 

cessively  encamped." — ROBINSON'S  Bib.  Res.  vol.  iii,  p. 
173. 

NAZAKETH. 

"And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up." — LUKE  iv.  16. 

This  hallowed  spot,  in  which  the  first  thirty  years  of 
our  Lord's  earthly  life  were  spent  in  tranquil  seclusion, 
lies  embosomed  in  a  quiet  valley  among  the  hills  of  Galilee, 
about  six  miles  north-west  from  Mount  Tabor.  "  Fifteen 
gently  rounded  hills  seem  as  if  they  had  met  to  form  an 
enclosure  for  this  peaceful  basin ;  they  rise  round  it  like  the 
edge  of  a  shell  to  guard  it  from  intrusion.  It  is  a  rich  and 
beautiful  field  in  the  midst  of  these  green  hills — abounding 
in  gay  flowers.  .  .  .  The  expression  of  the  old  topographer, 
Quaresmius,  was  as  happy  as  it  was  poetical :  '  Nazareth 
is  a  rose,  and  like  a  rose  has  the  same  rounded  form,  en- 
closed by  mountains  as  the  flowrer  by  its  leaves.' 

"  From  the  crest  of  the  hills  which  thus  screen  it,  espe- 
cially from  that  called  Nebi-Said,  or  Ismail,  on  the  western 
side,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  views  in  Palestine  :  Tabor, 
with  its  rounded  dome  on  the  south-east ;  Hermon's  white 
top  in  the  distant  north ;  Carmel  and  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  to  the  west ;  a  conjunction  of  those  three  famous  moun- 
tains probably  unique  in  the  views  of  Palestine :  and  in 
the  nearer  prospect,  the  uplands  in  which  Nazareth  itself 
stands,  its  own  circular  basin  around  it.  ...  On  the  south 
and  south-east,  lies  the  broad  plain  of  Esdraelon,  overhung 
by  the  broad  pyramidal  hill,  which  as  the  highest  point  of 
the  Nazareth  range,  and  thus  the  most  conspicuous  to 
travellers  approaching  from  the  plain,  has  received,  though 
without  any  historical  ground,  the  name  of  the  c  Mount  of 
Precipitation.'  These  are  the  natural  features  which  for 
nearly  thirty  years  met  the  almost  daily  view  of  Him 
who  '  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature '  within  this  beauti- 
ful seclusion.  It  is  the  seclusion  which  constitutes  its 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  343 

peculiarity  and  its  fitness  for  these  scenes  of  the  Gospel 
history.  Unknown  and  unnamed  in  the  Old  Testament, 
Nazareth  first  appears  as  the  retired  abode  of  the  humble 
carpenter.  Its  separation  from  the  busy  world  may  be  the 
ground,  as  it  certainly  is  an  illustration,  of  the  Evangelist's 
play  on  the  word  4  He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene.'  Its  wild 
character,  high  up  in  the  Galilean  hills,  may  account  both 
for  the  roughness  of  its  population,  unable  to  appreciate 
their  own  Prophet,  and  for  the  evil  reputation  which  it 
had  acquired  even  in  the  neighboring  villages,  one  of  whose 
inhabitants,  Nathanael  of  Cana,  said :  *  Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  '  There,  secured  within  the  natu- 
ral barrier  of  the  hills,  was  passed  that  youth,  of  which  the 
most  remarkable  characteristic  is  its  absolute  obscurity; 
and  thence  came  the  name  of  Nazarene,  used  of  old  by  the 
Jews,  and  used  still  by  Mussulmans,  as  the  appellation  of 
that  despised  sect  which  has  now  embraced  the  civilized 
world." — STAJSXET'S  Si/nai  and  Palestine,  p.  366. 

"  The  sun  was  now  fast  declining ;  and  .  .  .  we  has- 
tened on ;  and  at  length,  when  it  was  nearly  dark,  having 
entered  the  streets  of  Nazareth,  proceeded  to  the  Latin 
Convent.  .  .  . 

"  Nazareth  is  situated  on  the  side,  and  extends  nearly 
to  the  foot  of  a  hill,  which,  though  not  very  high,  is  rather 
eteep  and  overhanging.  ...  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  a  mod- 
est, simple  plain,  surrounded  by  low  hills,  reaching  in  length 
nearly  a  mile ;  in  breadth,  near  the  city,  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards ;  but,  further  on,  about  four  hundred  yards.  .  .  . 
Then  follows  a  ravine,  which  gradually  grows  deeper  and 
narrower,  till,  after  walking  about  another  mile,  you  find 
yourself  in  an  immense  chasm  with  steep  rocks  on  either 
side,  from  whence  you  behold,  as  it  were,  beneath  your  feet 
and  before  you,  the  noble  plain  of  Esdraelon.  The  situation 
of  Nazareth  is  very  romantic.  The  scenery  around  is  of  the 
kind  in  which  one  would  imagine  the  Saviour  of  the  world 


344  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIEXCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

delighted  to  wander,  and  to  withdraw  himself  when  medi- 
tating on  His  great  mission — deep  and  secluded  dells, 
covered  with  a  wild  verdure — silent  and  solemn  paths, 
where  overhanging  rocks  shut  out  all  intrusion.  No  one 
can  walk  round  Nazareth  without  feeling  thoughts  like 
these  enter  his  mind,  while  gazing  often  on  many  a  sweet 
spot,  traced  perhaps  by  the  Redeemer's  footsteps,  and 
embalmed  by  His  prayers." — JOWETT'S  Researches,  pp. 
154-156,  165. 

..."  I  walked  out  alone  to  the  top  of  the  hill  over 
Nazareth.  .  .  .  Here,  quite  unexpectedly,  a  glorious  pros- 
pect opened  on  the  view.  The  air  was  perfectly  clear  and 
serene,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  I  received, 
as  the  scene  burst  suddenly  upon  me.  There  lay  the  mag- 
nificent plain  of  Esdraelon,  ...  on  the  left  was  seen  the 
round  top  of  Tabor  over  the  intervening  hills,  with  por- 
tions of  the  little  Hermon  and  Gilboa,  and  the  opposite 
mountains  of  Samaria.  .  .  .  Then  tsame  the  long  line  of 
Carmel.  ...  In  the  west  lay  the  Mediterranean,  gleam- 
ing in  the  morning  sun ;  .  .  .  below,  on  the  north,  was 
spread  out  another  of  the  beautiful  plains  of  northern 
Palestine;  .  .  .  beyond  it,  long  ridges  rise  one  higher 
than  another,  until  the  mountains  of  Safed  overtop  them 
all,  on  which  at  that  place  is  seen,  '  a  city  set  upon  an  hill.' 
Further  towards  the  right  is  a  sea  of  hills  and  mountains, 
backed  by  the  higher  ones  beyond  the  Lake  of  Tiberias, 
and  in  the  north-east  by  the  majestic  Hermon  with  its  icy 
crown.  Carmel  here  presented  itself  to  great  advantage, 
extending  far  out  into  the  sea,  and  dipping  his  feet  into 
the  waters. 

.  .  .  "  I  remained  for  some  hours  upon  this  spot,  lost  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  wide  prospect,  and  of  the  events 
connected  with  the  scenes  around.  In  the  village  below, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  had  passed  His  childhood ;  and 
although  we  have  few  particulars  of  His  life  during  those 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  345 

early  years,  yet  there  are  certain  features  of  nature  which 
meet  our  eye  now,  just  as  they  once  met  His.  He  must 
often  have  visited  the  fountain  near  which  we  had  pitched 
our  tent ;  his  feet  must  frequently  have  wandered  over  the 
adjacent  hills ;  and  His  eyes  doubtless  have  gazed  upon 
the  splendid  prospect  from  this  very  spot.  Here  the  Prince 
of  Peace  looked  down  upon  the  great  plain,  where  the  din 
of  battles  so  often  had  rolled,  and  the  garments  of  the  war- 
rior been  dyed  in  blood  ;  and  he  looked  out,  too,  upon  that 
sea,  over  which  the  swift  ships  were  to  bear  the  tidings  of 
His  salvation  to  nations  and  to  continents  then  unknown. 
How  has  the  moral  aspect  of  things  been  changed  !  Bat- 
tles and  bloodshed  have  indeed  not  ceased  to  desolate  this 
unhappy  country,  and  gross  darkness  now  covers  the  peo- 
ple ;  but  from  this  region  a  light  went  forth  which  has  en- 
lightened the  world  and  unveiled  new  climes  ;  and  now  the 
rays  of  that  light  begin  to  be  reflected  back  from  distant 
isles  and  continents,  to  illuminate  anew  the  darkened  land 
where  it  first  sprung  up." — ROBINSON'S  J3ib.  Ites.  vol.  iii, 
pp.  181-191. 

SEA   OF   GALILEE. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  the  people  pressed  upon  him  to  hear  the 
word  of  God,  he  stood  by  the  lake  of  Gennesaret."— LUKE  v.  1. 

This  hallowed  sheet  of  water,  associated  with  so  much 
of  the  Saviour's  life  on  earth,  has  several  names  in  the 
Bible.  In  the  Old  Testament  it  is  called  the  Sea  of  Chin- 
nereth,  from  a  town  of  that  name  upon  its  shores.  It  is 
thus  called  in  the  Old  Testament  only.  In  the  Apocryphal 
books  it  is  called  the  Water  of  Genessar;  in  Josephus  the 
Sea  of  Gennessar ;  and  in  the  New  Testament,  where  it  is 
very  often  mentioned,  the  Sea  of  Gennesareth,  or,  accord- 
ing to  another  reading,  Gennesar,  or  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

"  We  reached  the  brow  of  the  height  above  Tiberias, 
where  a  view  of  the  whole  sea  opened  at  once  upon  us.  It 


346  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

was  a  moment  of  no  little  interest ;  for  who  can  look  with- 
out interest  upon  a  lake  on  whose  shores  the  Saviour  lived 
so  long,  and  where  He  performed  so  many  of  his  mighty 
works  ?  Yet  to  me,  I  must  confess,  so  long  as  we  contin- 
ued around  the  lake,  the  attraction  lay  more  in  those  asso- 
ciations than  in  the  scenery  itself.  The  lake  presented 
indeed  a  beautiful  sheet  of  limpid  water,  in  a  deep  de- 
pressed basin,  from  which  the  shores  rise,  in  general, 
steeply  and  continuously  all  around,  except  where  a  ravine, 
or  sometimes  a  deep  wady,  occasionally  interrupts  them. 
The  hills  are  rounded  and  tame,  with  little  of  the  pic- 
turesque in  their  form ;  they  are  decked  by  no  shrubs  nor 
forests.  .  .  .  One  interesting  object  greeted  our  eyes — a 
little  boat,  with  a  white  sail,  gliding  over  the  waters ;  the 
only  one,  as  we  afterwards  found,  upon  all  the  lake.  .  .  . 

"  As  we  sat  at  evening  in  the  door  of  our  tent,  looking 
out  over  the  placid  surface  of  the  lake,  its  aspect  was  too 
inviting  not  to  allure  us  to  take  a  bath  in  its  limpid  waters. 
The  clear  and  gravelly  bottom  shelves  down  in  this  part 
very  gradually,  and  is  strewed  with  many  pebbles.  In  or 
after  the  rainy  season,  when  the  torrents  from  the  neigh-* 
bouring  hills  and  the  more  northern  mountains  stream  into 
the  lake,  the  water  rises  to  a  higher  level,  and  overflows 
the  courtyards  of  the  houses  along  its  shores  in  Tiberias. 
The  lake  furnished  the  only  supply  of  water  for  the  inhab- 
itants ;  it  is  sparkling,  and  pleasant  to  the  taste  ;  or  at  least 
it  was  so  to  us,  after  drinking  so  long  of  water  carried  in 
our  leathern  bottles.  .  .  . 

"  The  lake  is  full  of  fish  of  various  kinds ;  we  had  no 
difficulty  in  procuring  an  abundant  supply  for  our  evening 
and  morning  meal ;  and  found  them  delicate  and  well  fla- 
vored."— ROBINSON'S  Bib.  Res.  vol.  iii,  pp.  252-253. 

"  My  experience  in  this  region  enables  me  to  sympathize 
with  the  disciples  in  their  long  night's  contest  with  the 
wind.  I  spent  a  night  in  the  Wady  Shukaiyif,  some  three 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  347 

miles  up  it.  The  sun  had  scarcely  set  when  the  wind  be- 
gan to  rush  down  toward  the  lake,  and  it  continued  all 
night  long  with  constantly  increasing  violence,  so  that 
when  we  reached  the  shore  next  morning,  the  face  of  the 
lake  was  like  a  huge  boiling  caldron.  The  wind  howled 
down  every  wady  from  the  north-east  and  east,  with  such 
fury  that  no  efforts  of  rowers  could  have  brought  a  boat 
to  shore  at  any  point  along  that  coast.  In  a  wind  like  that, 
the  disciples  must  have  been  driven  quite  across  to  Genne- 
saret,  as  we  know  they  were  To  understand  the  causes 
of  these  sudden  and  violent  tempests,  we  must  remember 
that  the  lake  lies  low — six  hundred  feet  lower  than  the 
ocean ;  that  the  vast  and  naked  plateaus  of  the  Jordan 
rise  to  a  great  height,  spreading  backward  to  the  wilds  of 
the  Hauran,  and  upward  to  snowy  Hermon  ;  that  the  water- 
courses have  cut  out  profound  ravines  and  wild  gorges, 
converging  to  the  head  of  this  lake,  and  that  these  act  like 
gigantic  funnels  to  draw  down  the  cold  winds  from  the 
mountains.  On  the  occasion  referred  to  we  subsequently 
pitched  our  tents  at  the  shore,  and  remained  for  three  days 
and  nights  exposed  to  this  tremendous  wind.  We  had  to 
double-pin  all  the  tent-ropes,  and  frequently  were  obliged 
to  hang  with  our  whole  weights  upon  them,  to  keep  the 
quivering  tabernacle  from  being  carried  up  bodily  into  the 
air.  No  wonder  the  disciples  toiled  and  rowed  all  that 
night ;  and  how  natural  their  amazement  and  terror  at  the 
sight  of  Jesus  walking  on  the  waves  !  The  faith  of  Peter 
in  desiring  and  daring  to  set  foot  on  such  a  sea  is  most 
striking  and  impressive ;  more  so,  indeed,  than  its  failure 
after  he  made  the  attempt.  The  whole  lake,  as  we  had  it, 
was  lashed  into  fury  :  the  waves  repeatedly  rolled  up  to  our 
tent  door,  tumbling  over  the  ropes  with  such  violence  as  to 
carry  away  the  tent-pins.  And,  moreover,  those  winds  are 
not  only  violent,  but  they  come  down  suddenly,  and  often 
when  the  sky  is  perfectly  clear.  I  once  went  in  to  swim 


348  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

near  the  hot  baths,  and,  before  I  was  aware,  a  wind  came 
rushing  over  the  cliffs  with  such  force  that  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  I  could  regain  the  shore.  Some  such  sud- 
den wind  it  was,  I  suppose,  that  filled  the  ship  with  waves, 
1  so  that  it  was  now  full,'  while  Jesus  was  asleep  on  a  pillow 
in  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship ;  nor  is  it  strange  that  the 
disciples  aroused  Him  with  the  cry  of  '  Master !  Master ! 
carest  thou  not  that  .we  perish  ? '  '  But  he  arose  and  re- 
buked the  wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea,  Peace,  be  still ;  and 
the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  And  the 
disciples  feared  exceedingly,  and  said  one  to  another,  What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and  the  sea  obey 
him  ?'  " — DR.  THOMSON'S  Land  and  the  Book,  vol.  ii,  p.  32. 

"  Yet  one  scene  was  perhaps  more  present  with  us  than 
any  other  through  that  Sunday, — and  especially  at  each  of 
the  three  sunrises  we  saw  over  the  lake, — the  scene  which 
almost  more  vividly  and  familiarly  than  any  other  brings 
before  us  our  risen  Saviour,  the  first  fruits  in  whose  likeness 
all  that  sleep  in  Him  shall  be  raised. 

"  It  was  the  time  when  Jesus  showed  himself  again  to 
the  disciples  by  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  that  last  supplementary 
chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  which  seems  to  lead  us  beyond 
the  grave  to  the  shores  of  life  on  c  the  other  side,'  and  yet 
whose  chief  delight  it  is  that  its  scene  was  here  on  this  actual, 
familiar,  untransformed  earth,  on  one  of  these  very  sandy 
or  shingly  beaches.  We  could  not  but  recall  continually 
the  solitary  figure  seen  dimly  from  the  boat  after  the  night 
of  toil  and  disappointment  in  the  grey  of  the  morning ;  the 
voice  recognized  at  last  by  its  power  in  the  repetition  of  the 
old  miracle ;  old,  yet  new  in  the  significant  variety  of  the 
safe  landing  of  the  unbroken  net  with  all  its  contents  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus ;  the  simple  meal  which  the  Master  provided 
from  his  stores,  not  from  theirs ;  and  afterwards,  more  than 
all,  the  familiar  converse  as  the  little  band,  '  when  they 
had  dined,'  walked  along  this  shore. 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  349 

u  Yes,  along  this  shore  ;  with  the  quiet  music  of  these 
waters  rippling  against  the  beach,  and  the  golden  outlines 
of  the  opposite  hills  reflected  on  the  lake  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, that  little  band  walked  on,  conversing  as  they  went ; 
and  before  them  the  risen  Lord,  the  One  who  had  died 
was  alive  again,  and  would  die  no  more,  speaking,  as 
he  walked,  to  Peter  in  few  and  quiet  words  which  went 
to  the  depths  of  the  heart.  The  past  three-fold  denial, 
recalled  by  the  three-fold  question,  but  only  recalled  to 
stamp  a  deeper  consecration  on  the  service  of  the  future. 
This  was  the  scene  which,  more  than  any  other,  seemed 
before  us. 

"  The  fire  of  charcoal  smouldering  on  this  beach  to 
welcome  the  weary  fishermen  ;  the  fishes  laid  thereon,  and 
the  flat  unleavened  cakes  (such  as  were  often  prepared  for 
us)  baked  on  the  ashes ;  the  Lord  himself  taking  the  bread 
and  fish  and  giving  them  to  the  disciples;  and  after  the 
simple  meal  the  quiet  conversation  as  they  walked  along 
the  shore — and  then  the  gleams  of  allegoric  meaning  which 
flash  through  all  these  homely  details,  lifting  the  heart  to 
the  heavenly  shore  ;  and  the  net  which,  '  when  it  is  full,' 
the  angels  shall  come  forth  and  lay  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  no 
more  treading  the  stormy  sea,  or  tossed  in  the  frail  boat, 
but  standing  in  majesty  on  the  eternal  shore.  And  after- 
wards the  '  feast,' — not  a  morning  meal  then,  but  a  '  sup- 
per,' an  evening  feast  when  the  long  day  of  toil  is  over ; 
and  when  the  '  Lovest  thou  me  ? '  shall  be  exchanged  for 
the  '  In  that  thou  didst  it  unto  me ; '  and  the  *  Feed  my 
sheep '  for  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou 
hast  been  faithful  in  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  rule.r 
over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.' 

"  Thus  if  through  the  night  the  Sea  of  Galilee  seems  to 
echo  with  the  heart-calming  assurance,  '  It  is  I,  be  not 
afraid,'  its  shores  at  morning  seem  no  less  to  resound  with 
the  heart-stirring  question,  '  Lovest  thou  me  ? ' " 


350  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

SCENEKY    OF   THE  PARABLES. 
"  And  he  sat  down  and  taught  the  people  out  of  the  ship." — LUKE  v.  3. 

"  The  greater  part  of  the  parables  delivered  in  Galilee, 
are  grouped  in  the  discourse  from  the  fishing  vessel  off  the 
beach  of  the  plain  of  Gennesareth.  Is  there  anything  on 
the  spot  to  suggest  the  images  thus  conveyed  ?  So  (if  I 
may  speak  for  a  moment  of  myself)  I  asked,  as  I  rode 
along  the  track  under  the  hill  side,  by  which  the  plain  of 
Gennesareth  is  approached,  so  I  asked  at  the  moment,  see- 
ing nothing  but  the  steep  sides  of  the  hill  alternately  of 
rock  and  grass.  And  when  I  thought  of  the  parable  of  the 
sower,  I  answered,  that  here  at  least  was  nothing  on  which 
the  Divine  Teaching  could  fasten.  It  must  have  been  the 
distant  corn-fields  of  Samaria  or  Esdraelon  on  which  His 
mind  was  dwelling.  The  thought  had  hardly  occurred  to 
me,  when  a  slight  recess  in  the  hill  side,  close  upon  the 
plain,  disclosed  at  once,  in  detail,  and  with  a  conjunction 
which  I  remember  nowhere  else  in  Palestine,  every  feature 
of  the  great  Parable.  There  was  the  undulating  corn-field 
descending  to  the  water's  edge.  There  was  the  trodden 
pathway  running  through  the  midst  of  it,  with  no  fence  or 
hedge  to  prevent  the  seed  from  falling  here  and  there  on 
cither  side  of  it,  or  upon  it ;  itself  hard  with  the  constant 
tramp  of  horse  and  mule,  and  human  feet.  There,  near  at 
hand,  were  all  kinds  of  aquatic  fowl  by  the  lake  side,  im- 
mediately recalling  the  f  birds  of  the  air '  which  4  came  and 
devoured  the  seed  by  the  way  side,'  or  which  took  refuge 
in  the  spreading  branches  of  the  mustard  tree.  There  was 
the  cgood'  rich  soil,  which  distinguishes  the  whole  of  that 
plain  and  its  neighborhood  from  the  bare  hills  elsewhere 
descending  into  the  lake,  and  which,  where  there  is  no  in- 
terruption, produces  one  vast  mass  of  corn.  There  was  the 
rocky  ground  of  the  hill  side  protruding  here  and  there 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  351 

through  the  corn-fields,  as  elsewhere  through  the  grassy 
slopes.  There  were  the  large  bushes  of  thorn — the  '  Nabk,' 
that  kind  of  which  tradition  says  that  the  Crown  of  Thorns 
was  woven, — springing  up,  like  the  fruit  trees  of  the  more 
inland  parts,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  waving  wheat. 

"  This  is  the  most  detailed  illustration  of  the  Galilean 
parables.  But  the  image  of  the  corn-fields  generally  must 
have  been  always  present  to  the  eye  of  the  multitude  on 
shore,  of  the  Master  and  disciples  in  the  boat — as  con- 
stantly as  the  vineyards  at  Jerusalem.  '  The  earth  bring- 
eth  forth  fruit  of  herself,' — 'the  blade,  the  ear,  the  full 
corn  in  the  ear,' — '  the  reapers  coming  with  their  sickles 
for  the  harvest,' — the  tall  green  stalks  still  called  Zuwan 
by  the  Arabs  (in  the  Greek  N.  T.  '  zizania '  and  in  our  ver- 
sion rendered  '  tares ')  at  first  sight  hardly  distinguishable 
from  the  wheat,  could  never  be  out  of  place  in  the  plain  of 
Gennesareth.  It  is  mpossible,  moreover,  to  see  even  the 
relics  of  the  great  fisheries,  which  once  made  the  fame  of 
Gennesareth,  the  two  or  three  solitary  fishermen  casting 
their  nets  into  the  lake  from  its  rocky  banks,  without  re- 
calling the  image  which  here  alone,  in  inland  Palestine, 
could  have  a  meaning  ;  of  the  net  which  was  '  cast  into  the 
sea  and  gathered  of  every  kind,'  from  all  the  various  tribes 
which  still  people  these  lonely  waters." — STANLEY. 

LEBANON. 
"  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  come  unto  thee." — ISA.  Ix.  13. 

"  The  first  mention  of  Lebanon  is  in  the  prayer  of  Mo- 
ses, when  he  besought  the  Lord  that  he  might  see  '  that 
goodly  mountain  and  Lebanon.'  It  was  then  inhabited  by 
the  Hivites.  There  is  frequent  reference  to  the  fountains, 
wells,  and  streams  of  Lebanon,  as  well  as  to  its  vines,  flow- 
ers, roots,  fir  trees,  box  trees,  and  cedars ;  and  in  one  de- 
scription of  the  latter  day  glory,  it  is  said,  that  *  the  fruit 


352  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

thereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon.'  The  allusions  of  the 
prophets  appear  very  striking  to  those  acquainted  with  the 
circumstances  of  the  place.  We  learn  from  Hosea,  that 
Israel  shall  one  day  be  '  as  the  vine  of  Lebanon ; '  and  its 
wine  is  still  the  most  esteemed  of  any  in  the  Levant. 
What  could  better  display  the  folly  of  the  man  who  had 
forsaken  his  God,  than  the  reference  of  Jeremiah  to  the 
cold  flowing  waters  from  the  ices  of  Lebanon— the  bare 
mention  of  which  must  have  brought  the  most  delightful 
associations  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  parched  plain  ?  The 
Psalmist  declares,  that  '  the  voice  of  the  Lord  breaketh  the 
cedars ;  yea,  the  Lord  breaketh  the  cedars  of  Lebanon ; » 
and  a  more  sublime  spectacle  can  scarcely  be  conceived 
than  the  thunder  rolling  among  these  enormous  masses, 
and  the  lightning  playing  among  the  lofty  cedars,  wither- 
ing their  foliage,  crashing  the  branches  that  had  stood  the 
storms  of  centuries,  and  with  the  utmost  ease  hurling  the 
roots  and  trunks  into  the  distant  vale.  But  by  Isaiah  the 
mountain  is  compared  to  one  vast  altar,  and  its  countless 
trees  are  the  pile  of  wood,  and  the  cattle  upon  its  thousand 
hills  the  sacrifice  ;  yet,  if  a  volcanic  eruption  were  to  burst 
forth  from  one  of  its  summits,  and  in  torrents  of  liquid  fire 
to  enkindle  the  whole  at  once,  even  this  mighty  offering 
would  be  insufficient  to  expiate  one  single  crime :  and  the 
sinner  is  told  that  '  Lebanon  is  not  sufficient  to  burn,  nor 
the  beasts  thereof  for  a  burnt- offering.'  The  trees  of  Leb- 
anon are  now  comparatively  few,  and  with  them  are  gone 
the  eagles  and  wild  beasts  to  which  they  afforded  shelter ; 
and  it  is  of  its  former  state,  and  not  of  its  present  degrada- 
tion, that  we  are  to  think,  in  reading  the  glowing  descrip- 
tions of  the  prophets." — HARDY'S  Notices  of  the  Holy 
Land,  pp.  271-273. 

"  His  countenance  is  as  Lebanon." 
"  Such  is  the  figure  used  by  Solomon  to  indicate  the 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  353 

dignity,  beauty,  and  majesty  of  the  great  Head  of  the 
Church.  They  who  have  gazed  upon  Lebanon  from  the 
heights  about  Beyrout  must  have  felt  how  noble  an  image  it 
is.  Lebanon  is  a  little  world  in  itself.  It  is  still  abundantly 
populated,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  war;  and  its 
fertility  is  very  great,  by  means  of  the  terraced  manner 
of  cultivation,  which  has  so  generally  prevailed  in  the 
East.  From  Beyrout  the  eye  traces  numberless  villages, 
scattered  about  even  on  the  higher  ridges,  amidst  forests 
of  pine  and  majestic  oaks.  The  loftiest  peak  of  Lebanon 
is  called  Sannin,  and  is  computed  at  10,000  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  There  is  an  indescribable  air  of  grandeur  per- 
vading this  grand  mass  of  mountain.  But  what  must  Leba- 
non have  been,  when  the  prophet  Isaiah  referred  to  it  as 
an  image  to  illustrate  his  announcement  of  gospel  blessing 
and  gospel  glory — '  The  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given 
unto  it '  ?  " — Mission  to  the  Jews,  p.  240. 

...  "I  have  travelled  in  no  part  of  the  world  where  I 
have  seen  such  a  variety  of  glorious  mountain  scenes  with- 
in so  narrow  a  compass.  Not  the  luxurious  Java,  not  the 
richly  wooded  Borneo,  not  the  majestic  Sumatra  or  Celebes, 
not  the  paradise-like  Ceylon,  far  less  the  grand  but  naked 
mountains  of  South  Africa,  or  the  low  impenetrable  woods 
of  the  West  Indies,  are  to  be  compared  to  the  southern 
projecting  mountains  of  Lebanon.  In  yonder  lands  all  is 
green  or  all  is  bare.  An  Indian  landscape  has  something 
monotonous  in  its  superabundance  of  wood  and  jungle,  that 
one  wishes  in  vain  to  see  intermingled  with  rocky  cliffs  or 
with  towns  or  villages.  In  the  bare  table  lands  of  the  Cape 
Colony,  the  eye  discovers  nothing  but  rocky  cliffs.  ...  It 
is  not  so,  however,  with  the  southern  ranges  of  Lebanon. 
Here  there  are  woods  and  mountains,  streams  and  villages, 
bold  rocks  and  green  cultivated  fields,  land  and  sea  views. 
Here,  in  one  word,  you  find  all  that  the  eye  could  desire 
to  behold  on  this  earth.  ,  .  The  whole  of  northern  Canaan 


354  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

lies  at  our  feet.  Is  not  this  Sidon  ?  Are  not  those  Sarepta 
and  Tyre,  and  Ras-el-Abial  ?  I  see  also  the  Castle  of  Shukif 
and  the  gorge  of  the  Leontes,  and  the  hills  of  Safed,  and, 
in  the  distance,  the  basin  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  with  the 
hills  of  Bara,  far,  far  away ;  and  all  these  hundreds  of  vil- 
lages between  the  spot  we  are  at  and  the  sea  coast.  .  .  . 
Half  a  day  would  not  suffice  for  taking  the  angles  of  such 
an  ocean  of  villages,  towns,  castles,  rivers,  hills  and  capes." — 
VAN  DE  VELDE,  vol.  ii,  p.  488. 

..."  Wherever  one  may  wander  over  the  sunny 
hills  and  valleys  into  which  the  romantic  region  of  '  the 
Lebanon » is  cloven,  will  he  find  himself  in  presence  of  a 
living  picture  of  ancient  times  and  ever  fresh  associations. 
He  will  find  the  venerable  mountain  incrusted  with  a  rich 
and  sacred  symbolism.  The  waving  of  its  golden  harvests 
will  speak  to  him  of  '  an  handful  of  corn  on  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  the  fruit  thereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon.'  Its 
vineyards  purpling  in  the  clear  heat  of  the  summer,  the 
mellow  fruitage  of  its  load  of  orchards,  the  brilliant  colors 
of  its  wayside  flowers,  the  sweetness  of  its  odorous  thickets 
and  beds  of  thyme,  the  balsamic  fragrance  of  its  cedars, 
will  give  more  vivid  force  to  holy  words  which  have  rung 
from  childhood  through  the  memory :  '  1  will  be  as  the 
dew  unto  Israel :  he  shall  grow  as  the  lily,  and  cast  forth 
his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches  shall  spread,  and  his 
beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive  tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon. 
They  that  dwell  under  his  shadow  shall  return :  they  shall 
revive  as  the  corn  and  grow  as  the  vine  ;  the  scent  thereof 
shall  be  as  the  wine  of  Lebanon.'  Stability,  fragrance, 
fruit  fulness,  types  of  the  highest  graces  that  beautify  and 
exalt  the  life  of  man,  dwell  in  pure  and  endless  companion- 
ship beneath  the  cedars  of  Lebanon." 


TOPOGRAPHICAL   ACCURACY.  355 

MOUNT   HEKMON. 
"As  the  dew  of  Hermon." — PSALM  cxxxiii.  3. 

This  celebrated  mountain,  though  the  subject  of  frequent 
allusion,  is  not  associated  with  any  historical  event  in  the 
Old  Testament.  It  was  however  the  most  probable  scene 
of  one  of  the  most  interesting  events  in  the  life  of  our  Lord 
related  in  the  New.  "  In  the  turning  point  of  his  history, 
when  '  from  that  time  many  of  his  disciples  went  back  and 
walked  no  more  with  him,'  when  even  the  twelve  seemed 
likely  '  to  go  away ; '  and  He  could  no  more  walk  in  Judaea 
'  because  the  Jews  sought  to  kill  Him ; '  then  He  left  His 
familiar  haunts  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  to  return  to  them, 
as  far  as  we  know,  only  once  more.  He  crossed  to  the 
north-eastern  corner  of  the  lake,  and  passed,  as  it  would 
seem,  up  the  rich  plain  along  its  eastern  side,  and  came 
into  '  the  parts,'  into  4  the  villages '  of  Csesarea  Philippi. 
It  is  possible  that  He  never  reached  the  city  itself;  but  it 
must  at  least  have  been  in  its  neighborhood  that  the  con- 
fession of  Peter  was  made  ;  the  rock  on  which  the  Temple 
of  Augustus  stood,  and  from  which  the  streams  of  the  Jor- 
dan issue,  may  possibly  have  suggested  the  words  which 
now  run  round  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's.  And  here  one 
cannot  but  ask  what  was  the  '  high  mountain '  on  which 
six  days  from  that  time,  whilst  still  in  this  region,  '  He 
was  transfigured '  before  His  three  disciples  ?  It  is  impos- 
sible to  look  up  from  the  plain  to  the  towering  peaks  of 
Hermon,  almost  the  only  mountain  which  deserves  the 
name  in  Palestine,  and  one  of  whose  ancient  titles  was 
derived  from  this  circumstance,  and  not  be  struck  with  its 
appropriateness  to  the  scene.  That  magnificent  height- — 
mingling  with  all  the  views  of  Northern  Palestine  from 
Shechem  upwards — though  often  alluded  to  as  the  northern 
barrier  of  the  Holy  Land,  is  connected  with  no  historical 


356  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

event  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament.  Yet  this  fact  of  its 
rising  high  above  all  the  other  hills  of  Palestine,  and  of  its 
setting  the  last  limit  to  the  wanderings  of  Him  who  was 
sent  only  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,  falls  in 
with  the  supposition  which  the  words  inevitably  force  upon 
us.  High  up  on  the  southern  slopes  there  must  be  many 
a  point  where  the  disciples  could  be  taken  '  apart  by  them- 
selves.' At  any  rate,  the  remote  heights  above  the  sources 
of  the  Jordan  witnessed  the  moment,  when  His  work  in 
His  own  peculiar  sphere  being  ended,  He  set  his  face  for 
the  last  time  4  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem.' " — STANLEY'S  Sinai 
and  Palestine,  pp.  391-392. 

The  same  view  is  also  adopted  and  ably  supported  by 
Dr.  Buchanan  in  his  "Clerical  Furlough."  ....  "Upon 
the  whole,  in  so  far  as  its  known  history  is  concerned,  the 
one  event  which  sheds  a  glory  around  it,  is  the  visit  and 
the  transfiguration  of  our  Lord.  As  regards  the  natural 
beauties  of  the  scene,  they  can  hardly  be  exaggerated. 
From  the  edge  of  the  grove  where  our  tents  were  pitched 
the  view  all  around  was  of  the  noblest  kind.  Immediately 
behind  us,  on  the  east,  and  looking  right  down  upon  us 
.from  a  height  of  1,000  feet,  were  the  massive  ruins  of  the 
singularly  picturesque  and  majestic  fortress  of  Subeibeh. 
Thousands  and  thousands  of  feet  above  it,  and  running 
along  the  whole  north  side  of  our  position,  towered  up  the 
mighty  Hermon,  his  vast  sides  cleft  by  tremendous  chasms 
and  shaggy  with  dark  woods,  his  swelling  breast  rising 
black  and  bare  over  these  primeval  forests;  and  higher 
still  his  broad  and  gigantic  shoulders  and  hoary  head  white 
with  eternal  snow !  Who  could  look  at  him  and  fail  to 
acknowledge  his  right  to  be  called  the  Jebel-es-Sheikh — the 
mountain  monarch  of  the  land  ?  " 

The  view  from  the  summit  of  Hermon  is  thus  finely 
given  by  Mr.  Porter  :  "  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  feelings 
that  filled  my  breast  as  I  gazed  on  the  magnificent  pan- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  357 

orama  spread  out  before  me.  I  could  scarce  realize  the 
thought  that  my  feet  stood  on  that  sacred  mountain  of 
which  inspired  penmen  had  written;  and  that  the  Land 
of  Israel,  God's  gift  to  Abraham's  seed,  was  before  me. 
And  yet  it  was  so !  Looking  westward,  that  expanse  of 
water,  now  gleaming  like  burnished  gold  beneath  the  rays 
of  the  sinking  sun,  is  the  '  Great  Sea,'  the  border  of  the 
'Promised  Land.'  On  that  low  promontory  jutting  out 
behind  those  mountains  stands  Tyre,  the  ancient  queen  of 
the  sea;  and  those  mountains  are  called  Lebanon.  That 
blue  ridge  far  away  to  the  south  is  Carmel,  and  the  broad 
plain  of  Esdraelon  stretches  along  its  base,  with  Jezreel 
and  Shunem,  Endor  and  Tabor,  Nain  and  Nazareth  on  its 
borders.  Here  on  the  south,  deeply  depressed,  are  the 
still  waters  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  the  narrow  valley 
running  away  beyond,  marks  the  course  of  the  Jordan. 
The  picturesque  hills  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Jordan  are 
the  hills  of  Gilead ;  and  the  elevated  plateau  on  this  side 
of  them,  extending  far  eastward,  is  the  '  Land  of  Bashan.' 
On  the  north  are  the  lofty  parallel  ridges  of  Libanus  and 
Antilibanus,  rising  peak  over  peak  far  as  the  eye  can  see, 
and  enclosing  between  them  the  rich  valley  of  Coele-Syria. 
At  the  eastern  base  of  Antilibanus  is  a  broad  plain  covered 
with  verdure ;  and  the  eye  can  just  detect  a  bright  speck 
in  the  centre  of  it — that  is  Damascus,  the  oldest  city  in  the 
world. 

"  What  a  multitude  of  wondrous  events  does  memory 
crowd  together  in  this  narrow  space !  Through  these 
mountains  and  plains  roamed  the  patriarchs  with  their 
flocks  and  herds.  This  country  was  witness  to  the  prowess 
of  Samson,  the  valour  of  David,  and  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon. Here  God's  ancient  people  were  cheered  by  revela- 
tions of  eternal  truth  from  on  high ;  and  they  were  awed 
and  solemnized  by  wondrous  manifestations  of  Divine  power 
and  love.  The  feet  of  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of  the 


358  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

World  trod  these  cities  and  villages,  while  their  inhabitants 
beheld'His  miracles,  His  sufferings,  and  the  heavenly  purity 
of  His  life.  Here  too  was  consummated  the  glorious  work 
of  man's  redemption,  when  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  hav- 
ing vanquished  death  and  Satan,  and  brought  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light.  Of  incidents  venerable  for-  their  high 
antiquity,  of  events  celebrated  for  their  display  of  valour 
and  patriotism,  and  of  acts  hallowed  by  the  loftiest  mani- 
festations of  Divine  power  and  love,  this  land  was  the 
scene." — Five  Years  in  Damascus,  vol.  I.  pp.291,  292. 

The  details  above  given  are  but  a  selected  portion  of 
the  testimony  of  the  Land  to  the  Book  gathered  from  the 
observations  of  different  travellers.  Many  volumes  would 
be  required,  fully  to  present  the  evidence  arising  from  this 
source.  The  argument  which  it  sustains  has  been  thus 
forcibly  stated  by  the  •  learned  Professor  Stuart :  "  How 
obviously  every  thing  of  this  kind  serves  to  give  confirma- 
tion to  the  authority  and  credibility  of  the  sacred  record. 
Do  sceptics  undertake  to  scoff  at  the  Bible,  and  aver  that 
it  is  the  work  of  impostors  who  lived  in  later  ages  ?  Be- 
sides asking  them  what  object  impostors  could  have  in 
forging  a  book  of  such  high  and  lofty  principles,  we  may 
ask — and  ask  with  an  assurance  that  need  not  fear  the  dan- 
ger  of  being  put  to  the  blush — whether  impostors  of  later 
ages  could  possibly  have  so  managed  as  to  preserve  all 
the  localities  in  complete  order  which  the  Scriptures  pre- 
sent ?  Rare  impostors  they  must  indeed  have  been — men 
possessed  of  more  knowledge  of  antiquity  than  we  can  well 
imagine  could  ever  be  possessed  by  such  as  would  conde- 
scend to  an  imposition  of  such  a  character.  In  fact,  the 
thing  appears  to  be  morally  impossible,  if  one  considers  it 
in  the  light  of  antiquity,  when  so  little  knowledge  of  a 
geographical  kind  was  in  existence,  and  when  mistakes  re- 
specting countries  and  places  with  which  one  was  not  per- 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ACCURACY.  359 

Gonally  familiar  were  almost,  if  not  altogether,  unavoid- 
able. 

"  How  happens  it  now  that  the  authors  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament Scriptures  should  have  possessed  such  a  wonderful 
tact  in  geography,  as  it  would  seem  they  did,  unless  they 
lived  at  the  time  and  in  the  countries  of  which  they  have 
spoken  ?  This  happens  not  elsewhere.  It  is  but  yesterday 
since  one  of  the  first  geological  writers  in  Great  Britain 
published  to  the  world  that  our  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
rivers  belong  to  the  tropics.  Respectable  writers,  even  in 
Germany,  the  land  of  classical  attainments,  have  sometimes 
placed  Ccele-Syria  on  the  east  of  the  Antilibanus  ridge,  or 
even  seemed  to  transfer  Damascus  over  the  mountains,  and 
place  it  between  the  two  Lebanon  ridges  in  the  valley. 
No  such  mistakes  occur  in  the  sacred  writers.  They  write 
as  men  who  were  familiar  with  the  geography  of  places 
named  ;  they  mention  places  with  the  utmost  familiarity  ; 
and  after  a  lapse  of  almost  three  thousand  years,  every 
successive  traveller  who  visits  Bible  lands,  does  something 
to  confirm  the  accuracy  of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  Towns 
bearing  -the  same  name,  or  the  ruins  of  towns,  are  located 
in  the  same  relative  position  in  which  they  said  they  were ; 
and  the  ruins  of  once  splendid  cities,  broken  columns,  di- 
lapidated walls,  trodden-down  vineyards,  half-demolished 
temples  and  fragments  broken  and  consumed  by  time,  pro- 
claim to  the  world  that  those  cities  are  what  they  said  they 
would  be,  and  that  they  were  under  the  inspiration  of 
God." 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

AECHJ20LOGICAL   DISCOVERIES — OLD  TESTAMENT. 

THE  constant  agreement  which  has  been  shown  to  ex- 
ist between  the  recorded  history  and  the  natural  geography 
of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  proves  undeniably, 
the  accuracy  of  the  sacred  writers.  But  does  it  also  estab. 
lish  the  historic  reality  of  the  events  which  they  narrate  ? 
That  it  does  so  when  candidly  viewed,  seems  also  unde- 
niable. To  find  the  Scripture  notices,  not  only  of  distant 
regions,  but  of  valleys,  fountains,  mountains,  rivers,  so  ex- 
actly confirmed  in  the  minutest  details,  is  irreconcileable 
with  any  other  supposition  than  that  the  men  and  the  oc- 
currences of  those  distant  times  which  the  Bible  brings 
before  us,  were  not  less  true  and  living  than  the  human 
realities  which  are  now  around  us. 

Against  this  point,  as  has  been  already  noticed,  the  spe- 
cial and  most  strenuous  efforts  of  modern  infidelity  have 
been  directed.  It  has  laboured  to  show  that  the  events  of 
the  Bible  history  are  so  enveloped  in  the  mists  and  clouds 
of  the  remote  ages  in  which  they  transpired,  that^  it  is  im- 
possible to  separate  them  from  the  unsubstantial  fancies  of 
myth  and  legend.  The  additional  and  overwhelming  evi- 
dence stored  up  in  memorials  of  dead  empires,  that  lay  for- 
gotten and  unknown  until  needed  for  the  vindication  of 
God's  word,  will  furnish  the  materials  for  the  present 
chapter. 

It  will  be  instructive,  however,  first  to  consider  the  rise 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  361 

of  the  peculiar  school  of  scepticism  which  rendered  the 
production  of  that  evidence  timely  and  opportune. 

"  The  close  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,"  says  Mr.  Rawlinson,1  "  saw  the  rise  of  a  new  sci- 
ence,— the  science  of  historical  criticism,  identified  in  Ger- 
many with  the  name  of  Mebuhr,  and  adopted  and  applied 
by  such  English  scholars  as  Thirlwall,  Grote,  Arnold,  and 
others.  Under  the  application  of  its  new  and  shifting 
principles  of  historical  investigation,  many  of  the  hitherto 
recognized  verities  of  ancient  history,  Greek,  Roman,  and 
Egyptian,  fell  back  into  the  region  of  the  legendary  and 
the  fabulous.  The  domain  of  real  history  was  circum- 
scribed ;  facts  once  received  melted  down  into  fables,  he- 
roes receded  into  gods  and  demi-gods,  and  their  feats  and 
triumphs  were  proved  to  be  but  the  fancies  of  poets  or  the 
dreams  of  national  vanity.  An  unreasoning  and  uncritical 
faith  had  received  with  equal  satisfaction  the  narratives  of 
the  campaigns  of  Caesar  and  of  the  doings  of  Romulus,  the 
account  of  the  marches  of  Alexander  and  of  the  conquests 
of  Semiramis,  the  story  of  the  conspiracy  of  Cataline  and 
the  tale  of  the  Trojan  settlements  at  Latium.  The  light 
had  not  been  sufficiently  bounded  off  from  the  darkness, 
the  dreamy  cloud-land  of  legend  and  fable  from  the  clear, 
perfect  historic  day.  In  dividing  between  these  and  clear- 
ing the  historic  field  of  its  long  legendary  occupants,  al- 
though in  some  instances  the  pruning  knife  of  the  critic 
may  have  overdone  its  work,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  an 
important  service  has  been  rendered  to  historical  science, 
and  reliable  principles  for  the  conduct  of  historical  inquiry 
have  been  fixed  and  ascertained. 

"  The  successful  demolition  of  errors  in  this  part  of  the 
historic  field,  suggested  the  inquiry — '  Might  not  this  new 
science  be  made  available  for  a  fresh  assault  upon  historical 
Christianity  ? '  If  it  could  be  wielded  in  that  direction, 

1  Bampton  Lectures. 
16 


362  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

the  attack  would  fall  in  with  the  humour  of  the  times,  with 
the  movement  in  the  world  of  philosophy.  It  would  cover 
itself  with  the  plausible  shield  of  historical  inquiry.  Criti- 
cism had  reduced  the  dimensions  of  Grecian  and  Roman 
history ;  it  had  disintegrated  the  true  from  the  false,  the 
really  historical  from  the  fabulous.  Might  it  not  be  ap- 
plied with  equal  success  to  the  Jewish  and  Christian  histo- 
ries ?  Might  they  not  be  shown  to  have  their  fabulous  ex- 
crescences to  be  cut  off  by  the  modern  critical  priming- 
knife,  their  large  account  of  facts  to  be  thrown  back  into 
the  dim  twilight  region  of  myths  and  legends  ?  There 
was  no  want  of  will  to  make  the  attempt.  The  great  mas- 
ter-mind to  whom  the  new  science  owed,  if  not  its  exist- 
ence, its  advancement  to  the  place  it  held,  had  indeed 
distinctly  accepted  the  mass  of  the  Scripture  history  as 
authentic,  and  was  a  sincere  and  earnest  believer.  But 
there  were  minds  of  a  different  order  among  his  country- 
men, neither  guided  by  his  caution  nor  restrained  by  his 
reverence,  and  whose  faith  had  already  given  way  in  all 
that  was  essential  in  Christianity.  Having  cast  away  the 
kernel,  their  next  struggle  was  to  dispose  of  the  shell,  and 
the  new  science  was  pressed  into  their  service  to  accom- 
plish the  work  of  demolition."  The  result  has  been  the 
rise  of  the  German  mythical  school  of  infidelity,  which  with 
an  erudition  and  acumen  never  surpassed,  have  brought  all 
the  resources  of  learning  against  the  historical  statements 
of  Holy  Writ.  By  these  writers,  the  miracles  in  the  sacred 
narrative  have  been  compared  with  the  prodigies  and  di- 
vine appearances  related  by  Herodotus  and  Livy.  Because 
the  names  of  kings  were  frequently  apposite  to  their  char- 
acter or  the  events  of  their  career,  they  have  argued  that 
the  monarchs  supposed  to  have  borne  them,  must  be  re- 
garded as  fictitious  personages  like  Theseus  and  Numa. 
Portions  of  the  sacred  history  were  early  declared  to  pre- 
sent every  appearance  of  being  simply  myths ;  and  by  de- 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  363 

grees  it  was  sought  to  give  the  whole  history  from  first  to 
last  a  legendary  and  unreal  character.  Did  any  of  the 
particular  narratives  in  the  sacred  books  seem  to  the  ra- 
tionalistic mind  objectionable  or  improbable,  it  was  deemed 
a  sufficient  account  of  any  such  narrative  to  say  that  its 
main  source  was  oral  tradition — that  it  first  took  a  written 
shape  many  hundreds  of  years  after  the  supposed  date  of 
the  circumstances  narrated,  the  authors  being  poets  rather 
than  historians,  and  bent  rather  on  glorifying  their  native 
country  than  on  giving  a  true  relation  of  facts — and  that  in 
places  they  had  not  even  confined  themselves  to  the  exag- 
geration, but  had  allowed  imagination  to  step  in  and  fill  up 
the  blanks  in  their  annals.  This  school  of  writers  have  not 
hesitated  to  claim  the  possession  of  "  a  verifying  faculty," 
— an  infallible  tact,  which  enables  them  to  decide  at  once  as 
to  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  historical  and  literal  truth. 
Armed  with  this  spear  of  Ithuriel,  De  Wette  was  empow- 
ered to  relegate  a  great  part  of  the  Old  Testament  Histo- 
ries into  the  region  of  the  mythical ;  and  Schleiermacher 
did  not  hesitate  to  characterize  those  narratives  out  of  the 
life  of  our  Lord,  which  the  Evangelists  have  preserved  re- 
specting his  childhood  and  early  youth,  as  "  no  more  than 
the  poetical  expression  of  the  truth,  that  the  beginning 
and  end  of  his  marvellous  life  were  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  laws  of  common  experience."  At  length  the  system 
may  be  said  to  have  culminated  in  the  remarkable  work 
entitled  "  The  Life  of  Christ,"  by  Strauss,  in  which  the  en- 
tire New  Testament  is  turned  into  a  myth  and  Christ  him- 
self becomes  a  mere  name. 

From  Germany  this  school  of  infidelity  has  spread  to 
England  and  America,  exerting  in  both  countries  a  widely 
pernicious  influence  among  the  cultivated  classes  of  society. 
In  circles  which  would  turn  with  disgust  from  the  vulgar 
productions  of  the  Paine  school,  works  of  a  far  more  dan- 
gerous character  are  now  freely  circulated, — works  whose 


364  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

avowed  object  it  is  to  "  extirpate  all  faith  in  the  supernatu- 
ral ;  to  account  for  the  origin  of  every  form  of  religion, 
not  excepting  Christianity  itself,  on  purely  natural  prin- 
ciples ;  to  undermine  all  creeds,  and  overthrow  every  exist- 
ing form  of  worship ;  and  to  substitute  for  them  either  the 
simplest  and  most  practical  code  of  utilitarian  morals,  or 
the  vague  and  mystic  generalities  of  Pantheism."  Among 
the  more  prominent  of  these  may  be  mentioned  Mackay's 
"  Progress  of  the  Intellect,"  a  work  bearing  the  marks  of 
erudition,  more  ingenuity  and  labour,  and  very  slender  judg- 
ment. The  author  attempts  to  dispose  of  the  supernatural 
claims  of  Christianity  by  applying  the  theory  of  myths 
alike  to  the  systems  of  Polytheism  and  the  Scriptures  of 
Truth ;  all  mythology  being  in  his  estimation,  "  but  the 
exaggerated  reflection  of  our  own  intellectual  habits."  The 
Polytheism  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Christianity  of  the  New 
Testament,  were  equally  the  products  or  creations  of  the 
human  mind ;  and  each  of  the  two  may  be  satisfactorily 
accounted  for  by  the  same  natural  law  or  tendency  which 
leads  mankind  every  where  and  in  all  circumstances  to 
give  form  and  body  to  their  ideal  conceptions,  to  personify 
abstractions,  and  to  endow  these  imaginary  beings  with 
attributes  akin  to  their  own.  In  attempting  to  develop 
this  fundamental  idea,  he  not  only  compares  the  mythology 
of  the  Greeks  with  the  mythology  of  the  Hebrews,  as  con- 
tained in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures,  but  he  places 
both  on  precisely  the  same  level,  and  ascribes  to  them  a 
common  origin.  As  a  specimen  of  what  the  beautiful  nar- 
ratives of  Scripture  become  by  the  application  of  this  theory, 
his  interpretation  of  the  history  of  Joseph  maybe  subjoined. 
This,  he  suggests,  "is  simply  the  myth  of  the  Arabian 
phoenix  in  another  form,  because  the  moon  and  the  stars 
bowed  down  to  him  in  the  dream,  and  he  was  carried  away 
amidst  bales  of  myrrh,  as  that  bird  was  said  to  make  its 
funeral  pyre  of  spices,  and  after  marrying  a  daughter  of 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  365 

the  priest  of  the  sun,  representative  of  the  sun  himself,  a 
command  was  given  respecting  his  bones,  like  those  of  the 
Nature  God,  symbolized  by  Osiris,  Orestes  and  Pelops !  " 
c  Ex  uno  disce  omnes.'  Subjected  to  this  crucible,  the  whole 
of  those  simple  and  touching  histories  which  delight  the 
opening  mind  of  childhood  and  charm  to  the  last  the  dull 
ear  of  old  age,  are  transmuted  into  a  mere  mass  of  legends, 
on  a  par  with  the  Arabian  Nights  or  the  adventures  of  the 
Odyssey.  They  are  but  phantasmata — as  unreal  as  the 
vision  that  mocked  the  efforts  of  the  Trojan  hero  :— 

« 

"  Ter  frustra  comprensa  manus  effugit  imago, 
Par  levibus  ventis  volucrique  simillima  somno." 

A  dim  haze  settles  down  upon  the  Scripture  landscape, 
and  all  its  scenes  and  events — the  actors  and  the  stage — 
become  "  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made  of,"  and,  like  Fairy- 
land with  King  Arthur  and  his  knights,  are  floated  off  to 

some 

"  island  valley  of  Avilion 

Where  falls  not  hail,  or  rain,  or  any  snow, 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly." 

Were  it  possible  for  this  attempt  to  "  rationalize  "  the 
Bible  and  transform  its  histories  into  "  myths  "  to  be  suc- 
cessful, then,  indeed,  would  the  Gospel  refuge  for  sinners 
be  dismantled  and  levelled  to  the  dust.  For,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  Christianity  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  facts 
with  which  it  is  intertwined.  But  the  waves  of  profane 
speculation  and  the  winds  of  sentimental  fancies  burst  in 
vain  against  this  building  of  God.  It  is  founded  on  the 
rock  of  eternal  truth,  and  cannot  be  overthrown.  This 
phase  of  infidelity  has  been  made  in  the  wisdom  of  Provi- 
dence, to  serve  what  seems  its  natural  end,  to  lead  to  a 
more  accurate  study  of  Scripture  than  was  ever  before 
engaged  in ;  and  to  broaden  and  deepen  the  foundations 
of  all  the  defences  of  the  faith.  The  subtile  and  insidious 


366  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

methods  of  undermining  the  vital  truths  and  facts  of  reve- 
lation, devised  by  Strauss,  Bruno  Bauer  and  other  rational- 
istic leaders,  roused  such  men  as  Tholuck,  Hengstenberg, 
Neander,  Olshausen  and  Stier  to  rally  to  the  standard  of 
the  truth.  These  great  scholars,  and  not  they  alone,  have 
met  the  mythical  school  of  infidels  upon  their  own  ground, 
and  with  their  own  weapons  have  fully  discomfited  them. 
By  the  application  of  the  principles  of  a  legitimate  and  just 
criticism,  the  weakness  and  fallacy  of  their  objections  have 
been  fully  demonstrated,  the  historic  verity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures vindicated,  and  not  a  jot  or  tittle  has  fallen  to  the 
ground. 

The  internal  evidence  on  this  point  is  alone  sufficient  to 
carry  conviction  to  every  unprejudiced  mind.  "  The  Scrip- 
tures shine  bright  with  the  amiable  simplicity  of  truth. 
They  set  forth  things  just  as  they  happened,  with  the  mi- 
nute circumstances  of  time,  place,  situation,  gesture,  habits, 
&c.,  in  such  a  natural  manner  tfcat  we  seem  to  be  actually 
present."  l  "  When  we  compare  the  early  Scriptures  with 
the  Grecian  and  Eastern  fables,  we  feel  just  the  same  con- 
trast as  between  a  crowd  of  meteors,  appearing  and  disap- 
pearing suddenly  in  all  directions,  and  the  calm,  steady, 
onward  progress  of  the  stars,  that  move  silently  and  irre- 
sistibly in  their  course  through  the  dark  blue  heavens. 
There  is  no  hurry  and  yet  there  is  no  pause,  in  the  view 
of  the  Divine  Providence,  and  of  the  moral  government  of 
the  world,  which  these  simple  histories  set  before  us.  If 
wonders  are  recorded,  there  is  no  pausing  to  dwell  upon 
them,  as  if  strange  works  of  power  were  strange  and  sur- 
prising even  to  the  Divine  Historian.  There  is  no  lingering 
in  the  far  distant  past,  where  a  human  fancy  would  have 
loved  to  disport  itself  amidst  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  and 
gorgeous  visions  of  Hesperian  gardens,  homes  of  beauty, 
and  islands  of  the  blest.  The  giants,  <  the  mighty  men  of 

*  Jonathan  Edwards'  Works,  vol.  viii,  p.  197. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  367 

old,  men  of  renown,'  have  their  transitory  fame  just  indi- 
cated in  one  sentence,  and  pass  at  once  out  of  view.  The 
peopling  of  the  old  world  by  the  sons  of  Noah,  and  the 
dispersion  from  the  tower  of  Babel,  are  briefly  recorded  ; 
but  no  details  of  the  journeyings  which  followed,  whether 
to  the  lands  of  the  East,  or  the  islands  of  the  West;  no 
geographical  romance,  like  that  of  the  Odyssey,  so  attrac- 
tive to  half-civilized  ears,  intrudes  on  the  narrative,  and  in- 
terferes with  the  rigid  unity  of  its  moral  purpose.  And 
when  the  fathers  of  the  chosen  race  are  set  before  us,  there  is 
no  element  in  the  description  to  feed  the  pride  of  their  chil- 
dren, though  much  to  animate  their  faith  and  kindle  their 
love  towards  the  God  of  their  fathers.  They  are  men  of 
like  passions  with  ourselves — not,  like  the  demi-gods  of 
Greece,  heroes  in  power,  and  profligates  in  character.  The 
faith  of  Abraham  fails  him  twice  under  the  pressure  of 
temptation.  Isaac,  in  his  old  age,  betrays  a  weakness  most 
unworthy  of  the  son  of  Abraham,  and  heir  of  the  promises. 
Jacob  steals  first  the  birth-right  from  his  brother,  and  after- 
ward the  blessing ;  and  his  whole  life  is  like  one  severe  dis- 
cipline, to  root  out  duplicity  as  well  as  to  strengthen  his 
faith.  Amidst  all  these  sins  or  follies  of  the  Patriarchs,  the 
purpose  of  God  who  chose  them  and  their  seed  to  be  wit- 
nesses for  His  truth  in  the  deepening  idolatry  of  the  nations, 
advances  slowly  and  calmly  to  its  fulfilment.  When  the 
appointed  centuries  have  expired,  '  that  selfsame  night ' 
the  hosts  of  the  Lord  come  forth  from  the  iron  furnace  of 
their  Egyptian  bondage.  Every  fresh  book  from  Genesis 
to  Nehemiah,  adds  a  new  link  to  the  golden  chain.  It  re- 
veals the  constant  progress  of  a  plan  of  moral  govern- 
ment and  spiritual  recovery,  which  sweeps  aside  at  every 
step  the  dreams  and  falsehoods  of  men,  till  the  twilight 
yields  at  length  to  a  joyful  daybreak,  in  the  fuller  message 
of  the  Gospel,  and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  rises  upon  the 
heathen  darkness  with  healing  in  his  wings." 


368  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

But  had  the  voice  of  human  vindication  been  silent,  it 
is  gratifying  to  know  that  an  answer  most  convincing  and 
indisputable,  had  been  laid  up  for  the  confusion  of  the  as- 
sailant of  Old  Testament  History  in  the  depositories  of 
Egypt,  in  remote  desert  places  where  for  ages  traveller's 
foot  had  not  trodden,  and  in  those  vast  and  mysterious 
mounds  by  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  on 
which  wandering  Kurd  and  Bedouin  for  centuries  had 
gazed  with  superstitious  awe,  and  which  tradition  had  asso- 
ciated with  Nimrod,  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  other  mighty 
conquerors  of  old.  When  that  answer  was  needed  it  ap- 
peared. Egypt  from  her  tombs  and  temples,  Edom  and 
Moab  from  the  wilderness,  Assyria  from  her  ruined  mounds, 
bore  testimony  to  the  truth  of  that  Word  which,  in  their 
days  of  power  and  prosperity,  pronounced  their  overthrow 
and  desolation. 

The  nature  of  this  testimony  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
discoveries  made  among  the  ruins  of  Herculaneum  and 
Pompeii,  and  the  use  to  which  they  have  been  applied. 
From  the  excavations  carried  forward  in  these  two  Roman 
towns,  overwhelmed  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  by  the 
scoriae  and  ashes  of  Vesuvius,  a  lifelike  picture  is  obtained 
of  Roman  arts  and  manners.  The  structure  of  the  dwell- 
ings and  gardens — the  household  furniture — the  mosaics 
and  paintings — the  theatres  and  baths — the  shops  and  their 
utensils — all  unite  to  give  us  a  perfect  insight  into  the  so- 
cial condition  of  the  Romans  of  the  Empire  in  all  its  cir- 
cumstantial reality. 

"  Returns  the  Past,  awakening  from  the  tomb? 
Rome — Greece ! — 0,  come  ! — Behold — behold  !  For  this 
Our  living  world — the  old  Pompeii  sees ; 
And  built  anew  the  town  of  Dorian  Hercules  ! 
House  upon  house — its  silent  halls  once  more 

Opes  the  broad  Portico how  lone 

The  clear  streets  glitter  in  the  quiet  day — 

The  footpath  by  the  doors  winding  its  lifeless  way ! 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  369 

The  roofs  arise  in  shelter,  and  around 

The  desolate  Atrium — see 

The  marble-tesselated  floor — and  there 

The  very  walls  are  glittering  livingly 

With  their  clear  colors. 

The  earth,  with  faithful  watch,  has  hoarded  all ! 

Still  stand  the  mute  Penates  in  the  hall ; 

Back  to  his  haunts  returns  each  ancient  god. 

Why  absent  only  from  their  ancient  stand 

The  Priests  ? — waves  Hermes  his  Caducean  rod, 

And  the  wing'd  victory  struggles  from  the  hand." — SCHILLER. 

No  one  would  think  of  disputing  the  obvious  inferences 
which  these  discoveries  enable  us  to  draw.  The  strong, 
clear  light  shed  from  Pompeii's  opened  vaults,  has  dispelled 
the  obscurity  which  had  hitherto  rested  on  many  points 
connected  with  the  private  life  and  economy  of  the  ancients, 
and  helped  to  explain  many  dark  passages  in  the  Roman 
poets  and  historians.  It  has  also  served  to  confirm  much 
which  they  have  written. 

What  reason  can  be  assigned  why  a  like  use  should  not 
be  made  of  the  far  more  ancient  remains  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria  ?  Why  should  not,  for  instance,  those  of  Egypt, 
contemporaneous  as  they  were  with  the  era  of  Moses,  be 
accepted  as  evidence,  whether  for  or  against  the  credibility 
and  trustworthiness  of  his  statements  ?  Could  it  be  made 
to  appear  that  they  did  not  tally  or  correspond — that  the 
one  contradicted  the  other — at  once  would  the  infidel  claim 
that  the  writings  of  the  Hebrew  lawgiver  were  thereby 
proved  unworthy  of  credit.  But,  as  in  the  famous  contro- 
versy occasioned  by  the  Zodiacs  of  Esneh  and  Denderah 
already  noticed,  all  attempts  to  falsify  Moses  from  this 
source  have  proved  signal  failures.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  phenomena  in  the  annals  of  mankind  that  on 
the  walls  of  the  ruined  temples  and  sepulchral  chambers  of 
Egypt,  there  is  still  preserved  a  more  extensive  and  varied 
reproduction  than  even  that  of  Pompeii,  of  a  civilization 
16* 


370  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

dating  back  to  within  a  few  centuries  of  the  flood.  Not 
only  the  regal  state  and  warlike  achievements  of  their 
kings,  with  their  civil  and  religious  ceremonies,  command 
an  interest, — but  the  people,  with  all  their  private  and  do- 
mestic occupations,  and  in  all  their  various  castes,  civil,  mil- 
itary, and  religious ;  in  their  feasts  and  their  funerals ;  in 
their  fields  and  their  vineyards;  in  their  amusements 
and  their  labors;  in  their  shops,  in  their  kitchens;  by 
land  and  by  water ;  in  their  boats  and  their  palanquins ; 
in  the  splendid  public  procession,  and  the  privacy  of  the 
household  chamber — seem  to  live  again  before  us, — the 
almost  unchanging  climate  having  preserved  the  paint- 
ings in  all  their  original  freshness  and  vividness  of  color. 
Yet  in  all  the  unnumbered  details  there  presented,  no 
discrepancy  with  the  sacred  history  can  be  found.  There 
is  nothing  but  agreement.  "  The  whole  monumental  won- 
ders and  antiquities  of  the  land  seem  to  have  been  pre- 
served," says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  as  if  for  the  express  purpose 
of  evincing  the  authenticity  and  illustrating  the  narratives 
of  the  Bible ;  every  single  allusion  of  which,  either  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  country  or  of  the  people,  is  seen  to 
have  the  minutest  consistency  with  truth, — so  strikingly  so, 
indeed,  as  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  every  Egyp- 
tian antiquary."  "  The  memorials  of  their  manners,  cus- 
toms, and  institutions,"  says  another  writer,  "which  the 
people  of  the  Pharaohs  depicted  on  the  walls  of  their  sep- 
ulchres, afford  a  decisive  because  an  unsuspicious  test  of  the 
historical  veracity  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  they  have 
furnished  confirmations  of  its  minute  accuracy,  which  must 
silence  where  they  do  not  convince  the  most  sceptical." 

Through  the  visit  of  Abraham,  the  history  of  the  ancient 
Church  became  at  a  very  early  period  connected  with  the 
land  of  Egypt.  Driven  thither  by  a  famine  which  prevailed 
in  Canaan,  as  he  approached  near  its  borders,  he  became 
alarmed  respecting  Sarah  his  wife,  fearing  that  they  would 
not  scruple  to  put  him  to  death  in  order  to  get  her  into 


AKCH^EOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  371 

their  undisturbed  possession.  The  cause  of  his  fear  appears 
to  have  been  the  circumstance  of  her  complexion  being  so 
much  fairer  than  that  of  the  women  of  Egypt.  "  Behold 
now,  I  know  that  thou  art  a  fair  woman  to  look  upon ; 
therefore  it  shall  come  to  pass  when  the  Egyptians  shall  see 
thee,  that  they  shall  say,  this  is  his  wife  ;  and  they  will  kill 
me,  but  they  will  save  thee  alive."  The  pictorial  representa- 
tions on  the  monuments  now  show  that  a  fair  complexion  was 
deemed  a  high  recommendation  in  the  age  of  the  Pharaohs. 
Almost  always  the  lighter  tints  with  which  females  of  high 
rank  are  drawn,  are  in  striking  contrast  to  their  swarthy 
attendants.  Thus  does  pagan  art  of  that  remote  antiquity 
confirm  the  history  of  the  Bible. 

The  apprehensions  of  Abraham  were  partly  realized. 
The  beauty  of  Sarah  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Egyptians 
and  of  Pharaoh's  court,  and  led  to  her  being  temporarily 
taken  from  him.  This  account  apparently  conflicts  with  the 
immemorial  custom  of  the  East  requiring  that  the  women 
should  go  closely  veiled  and  be  kept  in  careful  seclusion 
from  the  society  of  men  other  than  their  Husbands  and  near- 
est relatives.  The  answer  is,  that  the  social  system  of  the 
Egyptians  differed  in  this  respect  from  that  of  other  orien- 
tal nations.  The  monuments  show  that  the  Egyptian  women 
in  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs  went  unveiled,  and  were  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  as  much  freedom  as  the  females  of  modern 
Christendom.  We  may  suppose,  therefore,  that  prudence 
dictated  Sarah's  conforming  to  the  customs  of  the  land  upon 
which  she  had  now  entered. 

From  the  account  of  the  gift  which  Pharaoh  bestowed 
upon  Abraham  at  his  departure,  it  has  been  sought  to  draw 
an  inference  hostile  to  the  Mosaic  narrative,  because  no 
mention  is  made  in  it  of  horses,  though  they  were  common 
m  Egypt-  This  very  omission  is,  however,  a  confirmation 
of  the  truthfulness  of  the  history.  It  is  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  horses,  though  common  in  Egypt,  were  not 


372  TESTIMONY   OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

yet  in  use  among  the  Hebrews,  and  did  not  come  into  em- 
ployment until  the  time  of  the  kings.  In  Solomon's  reign  a 
cavalry  force  was  for  the  first  time  employed,  and  then  it 
was  comparatively  small  and  an  unwarranted  innovation. 
Even  in  Egypt  the  horse  is  introduced  into  the  monuments 
chiefly  if  not  exclusively  in  cases  of  war ;  and  it  was  not 
under  such  auspices  that  Abraham  appeared  before  Pharaoh. 
Hence  the  propriety  of  horses  being  omitted  in  the  gift 
which  Pharaoh  made  to  him.  In  harmony  with  this  and 
Abraham's  character  as  a  shepherd,  there  is  a  striking  pas- 
toral scene  depicted  in  the  sides  of  a  tomb  hewn  in  a  rocl», 
on  which,  according  to  Mr.  Wilkinson,  "First  came  the 
oxen,  over  which  is  the  number  834,  cows  220,  goats  3,234, 
and  sheep  974.  There  are  no  horses.  The  Hebrews  were 
shepherds  in  Egypt,  and  sheep  appear  on  the  monuments  in 
great  numbers." 

Ignorance  of  the  condition  of  Egypt  has  been  alleged 
against  the  relation  of  the  dream  of  the  chief  butler  of 
Pharaoh,  because  it  supposes  the  cultivation  of  the  vine, 
whereas  Herodotus  expressly  asserts  that  in  Egypt  there 
were  no  vineyards,  and  Plutarch  assures  us  that  the  natives 
of  that  country  abhorred  wine,  considering  it  as  the  blood 
of  Typhon.  Could  it  be  shown  that  those  ancient  writers 
were  infallible,  a  serious  difficulty  would  here  be  presented. 
But  not  only  are  they  contradicted  on  this  point  by  other 
authorities,  such  as  Diodorus  and  Athenssus,  but  discov- 
eries among  the  monuments  have  decided  the  question  be- 
yond a  doubt  in  favor  of  the  sacred  historian.  According 
to  Champollion,  there  are  to  be  seen  in  the  grottoes  of  Beni 
Hassan,  minute  representations  of  the  vintage  in  all  its 
parts,  from  the  dressing  of  the  vintage  to  the  drawing  off 
of  the  wine.  There  have  also  been  found  among  the  ruins 
of  the  old  cities  of  the  Pharaohs,  remains  of  wine-vessels 
with  unmistakable  marks  of  having  contained  wine,  and 
since  the  key  to  the  hieroglyphics  has  been  discovered,  the 


AKCH^EOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  373 

very  word,  wine,  has  been  deciphered,  and  thus  proved  to 
have  been  familiarly  known  to  the  people. 

It  has  also  been  objected  that  the  sacredness  of  animals 
prevented  the  use  of  animal  food,  of  which  we  read  in  the 
book  of  Genesis ;  but  on  referring  to  the  monuments,  we  find, 
delineations  of  feasts  and  kitchen  scenes,  unanswerably  con- 
firming the  sacred  record.  From  the  employment  of  bronze 
instruments  among  the  Egyptians,  even  from  the  earliest 
ages,  a  case  has  been  attempted  to  be  made  out  against  the 
statement  that  Tubal  Cain  was  the  father  of  all  workers  in 
iron,  and  to  show  that  its  use  did  not  arise  till  a  much  later 
age.  A  sufficient  answer  to  such  an  objection  is,  that  there 
is  no  proof  that  the  Egyptians  did  not  use  iron.  Long  after 
iron  was  known,  implements  continued  to  be  made  of  bronze, 
from  the  great  facility  in  working  it.  The  obelisks  and 
hieroglyphics  would  scarcely  have  been  cut  or  the  pyramids 
built,  as  Herodotus  himself  suggests,  without  the  use  of  iron. 
And  lastly,  there  are  representations  on  the  walls  of  Thebes 
which  have  the  appearance  of  being  those  of  steel.  Thus 
the  very  objections  of  scepticism,  upon  investigation,  have 
confirmed  the  truth  of  revelation. 

Many  incidents  in  the  interesting  history  of  Joseph  re- 
ceive valuable  illustration  from  the  scenes  depicted  on  the 
monuments.  Slaves  were  procured  for  Egypt,  not  merely 
in  war,  but  also  in  trade  with  other  nations,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  usage  Joseph  was  brought  there  as  an  article  of 
merchandise  by  an  Arabian  caravan.  The  buyer  of  the 
youthful  slave  was  Potiphar,  chief  of  Pharaoh's  body  guard 
and  one  of  the  high  officers  of  his  court.  In  existing  paint' 
ings  of  marches  and  battle  scenes,  this  kind  of  officer  may- 
be seen  in  attendance  upon  his  sovereign,  and  he  is  always 
represented  as  a  very  important  and  influential  person,  one 
who  possessed  in  a  very  high  degree  the  royal  confidence. 
This  will  account  for  the  arbitrary  power  he  possessed  over 
Joseph,  even  supposing  his  state  of  servitude  not  sufficient 


374  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

for  the  purpose.  Potiphar's  licentious  wife  plotted  the  se- 
duction, and  then  the  imprisonment  and  death  of  Joseph, 
and  many  representations  of  the  Egyptian  women  convey 
an  equally  bad  idea  of  their  character,  and  prove  that  in 
Egypt  the  restraints  on  the  females  in  the  household  were 
not  those  which  prevailed  generally  in  oriental  countries. 
The  situation  which  Joseph  held  in  the  house  of  Potiphar 
was  that  of  steward,  and  in  the  tombs  of  Beni  Hassan  this 
kind  of  officer  is  represented  discharging  his  duties  and 
overseeing  the  domestic  slaves.  In  other  pictures  the 
Egyptians  carry  flat  baskets  on  their  heads,  placed  one 
above  another,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  alluded  to 
by  the  chief  baker  of  Pharaoh,  in  his  account  of  his  dream. 

When,  in  consequence  of  the  chief  butler's  favorable 
account  of  Joseph,  the  king  sent  for  him,  we  read  that  he 
shaved  himself  and  changed  his  garments,  and  came  to 
Pharaoh.  Here,  as  we  learn  from  the  monuments,  is  an 
essentially  Egyptian  characteristic.  It  was  not  the  custom 
of  the  Hebrews  to  shave  the  beard,  except  in  cases  of 
mourning,  while  that  of  the  Egyptians  was  just  the  reverse. 
Joseph,  probably,  had  hitherto  adhered  to  his  own  national 
custom,  yet,  when  he  was  called  to  the  royal  presence,  it 
was  necessary  that  he  should  conform  to  the  usages  of  the 
court  and  kingdom.  In  this  account,  we  have,  therefore,  a 
clear  proof  that  the  sacred  historian  had  a  minute  acquaint- 
ance with  the  usages  of  the  land. 

On  being  introduced  to  Pharaoh,  Joseph  is  told  of 
dreams  which  the  king  had  dreamed,  and  which  none  of 
his  magicians  and  wise  men  could  interpret.  This  order 
of  men  is  to  be  distinguished  on  the  monuments,  and  from 
the  inscriptions  we  learn  that  they  were  applied  to  for 
explanation  and  aid  in  all  things  which  lay  beyond  the 
circle  of  common  knowledge  and.  action.  Nothing,  there- 
fore, can  seem  more  natural  than  that  when  the  king  was 
perplexed  by  a  very  remarkable  and  repeated  dreain,  his 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  375 

first  impulse  should  be  to  summon  the  magicians  and  wise 
men.  But  in  the  very  substance  and  description  of  the 
dreams  themselves,  we  find  convincing  proof  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  narrative  which  relates  them.  There  appeared 
seven  fat  and  seven  poor  kine  (cows),  to  indicate  years  of 
plenty  and  years  of  famine.  The  cow  was  the  peculiar 
Egyptian  symbol  of  the  earth,  with  its  cultivation  and 
produce.  Kine,  lean  and  fat,  would  consequently,  in  the 
region  of  the  Nile,  form  the  most  expressive  signs  of  coming 
abundance  and  of  coming  scarcity.  Nor  is  this  all.  Not 
only  does  the  coming  of  the  fat  and  the  lean  kine  out  of 
the  river  correspond  with  the  well  known  fact  that  the 
Nile  is  the  source  of  plenty  or  starvation  to  the  whole  land, 
but  there  is  another  circumstance,  lost  to  English  readers 
by  the  inaccuracy  of  our  translation,  which  proves  the 
sacred  writer's  familiarity  with  the  minute  peculiarities  of 
Egypt.  The  fat  kine,  it  is  added,  fed  in  a  "  meadow," — but 
this  word  does  not  convey  the  exact  meaning.  The  origi- 
nal means  the  aquatic  plants  of  the  Nile,  particularly  those 
of  the  litus  kind,  which  were  considered  so  valuable  that 
they  were  reaped  and  gathered  in  as  regular  a  harvest  as 
the  flax  and  corn.  Evidently  the  history  of  Joseph  could 
only  have  been  penned  by  one  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  natural  productions  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 

Upon  the  elevation  of  Joseph,  he  was  clothed  with 
garments  of  byssus  or  fine  linen,  which  were  highly  es- 
teemed in  Egypt,  and  appropriated  exclusively  to  those  of 
high  rank.  The  signet  ring,  as  an  emblem  of  authority, 
and  a  necklace  of  gold,  such  as  the  monuments  show  beto- 
kened rank  and  eminence,  were  given  to  him.  He  was 
married  to  the  daughter  of  Potipherah,  a  name  not  wanting 
on  the  monuments.  This  Potipherah,  a  person  quite  dis- 
tinct from  Potiphar  to  whom  he  was  sold,  was  high  priest 
of  Ileliopolis,  and  as  such  occupied  a  very  exalted  position 
in  the  state.  The  marriage  was  efiected  under  the  direct 


376  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

sanction  of  the  king,  who,  as  high  priest  as  well  as  king, 
exercised  authority  over  the  priesthood.  If  it  be  thought 
improbable  that  a  foreigner  like  Joseph  should  ally  himself 
with  the  daughter  of  so  high  a  family,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  Joseph  had  become  naturalized  in  Egypt,  and 
there  is  evidence  on  the  monuments  that  distinguished 
foreigners  were  sometimes  admitted  into  the  priesthood. 

Of  the  labors  rendered  by  Joseph  in  collecting  the 
produce  of  the  country,  we  have  clear  and  remarkable  illus- 
tration in  the  Egyptian  paintings.  There  are  to  be  seen 
representations  of  vast  granaries,  before  the  door  of  which 
lie  large  heaps  of  corn  already  winnowed,  while  "  a  regis- 
trar of  bushels  "  takes  an  account  of  the  number  of  bushels 
brought  to  him  by  another  man,  who  is  engaged  in  meas- 
uring. The  scene  of  entertainment  in  which  Joseph  is 
represented  as  eating  separately  from  the  other  Egyptians, 
is  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  caste,  to  the  highest 
class  of  which  Joseph  belonged ;  and  the  position  of  the 
guests,  that  of  sitting  at  table,  though  not  oriental  or  patri- 
archal, is  verified  by  the  Egyptian  monuments.  A  remark- 
able parallel  to  the  migration  of  the  family  of  Jacob  into 
Egypt  is  depicted  in  a  tomb  at  Beni  Hassan,  which  some 
have  even  supposed  to  have  a  direct  reference  to  that 
event.  The  scene  is  an  arrival  of  strangers  over  whom  the 
number  37  is  written  in  hieroglyphics,  bringing  their  goods 
with  them  upon  asses.  The  first  figure  is  an  Egyptian 
scribe,  who  presents  an  account  of  their  arrival  to  one  of 
the  chief  officers  of  the  king.  "They  are  then  ushered  into 
his  presence,  and  two  of  the  strangers  advance,  bringing 
presents  of  the  wild  goat  and  the  gazelle.  Four  armed 
mven  follow  leading  an  ass,  on  which  there  are  two  children 
in  panniers,  accompanied  by  a  boy  and  four  women. 
Another  laden  ass  follows  accompanied  by  two  men,  one 
of  whom  carries  a  bow  and  club,  and  the  other  musical 
instruments.  Whatever  the  scene  may  actually  represent, 
it  is  in  striking  harmony  with  the  narrative  of  Genesis. 


AKCHJEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  377 

Similar  illustrations  from  the  monuments  of  the  won- 
derful  accuracy  of  incidental  allusions  and  references  in  the 
Mosaic  history  to  Egyptian  antiquities  might  be  greatly 
multiplied,  did  our  limits  permit.  There  are,  however, 
two  direct  illustrations  of  Scripture  history  so  remarkable 
as  justly  to  claim  special  attention. 

The  first  has  reference  to  the  state  of  humiliation  and 
oppression  to  which  the  Israelites  were  reduced  in  Egypt, 
when  another  king  arose  who  knew  not  Joseph  or  his 
services.  The  Scripture  statement  is  that  "  the  Egyptians 
made  the  children  of  Israel  to  serve  with  rigor ;  and  they 
made  their  lives  bitter  with  hard  bondage  in  mortar  and 
in  brick,  and  in  all  manner  of  service  in  the  field ;  all  the 
service  wherein  they  made  them  serve  was  with  rigor." 
All  this  is  represented  to  the  letter  in  a  painting  which  was 
found  upon  the  walls  of  a  tomb  at  Thebes.  A  copy  and 
explanation  of  it  was  first  furnished  by  the  distinguished 
Italian  scholar  Rosellini  in  his  great  work  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt.  His  account  of  it  is  headed — "  Explana- 
tion of  a  picture  representing  the  Hebrews  as  they  were 
engaged  in  making  brick."  In  this  picture  some  of  the 
laborers  are  employed  in  transporting  the  clay  in  vessels ; 
some  in  working  it  up  with  the  straw :  others  in  taking  the 
bricks  out  of  the  moulds  and  setting  them  in  rows  to  dry ; 
while  others,  by  means  of  a  yoke  upon  their  shoulders,  from 
which  ropes  are  suspended  at  each  end,  are  seen  carrying 
the  bricks  already  dried.  The  physiognomy  of  the  Jews 
it  is  impossible  to  mistake ;  and  the  splashes  of  clay  with 
which  their  bodies  are  covered,  the  air  of  close  and  intense 
labor  that  is  conveyed  by  the  grouping  on  the  left  side  of 
the  picture,  and,  above  all,  the  Egyptian  taskmaster  seated 
with  his  heavy  baton,  whose  remorseless  blows  would 
doubtless  visit  the  least  relaxation  of  the  slaves  he  was 
driving  from  their  wearisome  and  toilsome  task  of  making 
bricks,  and  spreading  them  to  dry  in  the  burning  sun  of 


378  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE    BIBLL. 

Egypt,  give  a  vivid  impression  of  the  exactitude  of  the 
Scripture  phrase— "all  their  service,  wherein  they  made 
them  serve,  was  with  rigor." 

The  group  of  Egyptians  to  the  right  of  the  picture 
affords  also  a  confirmation  of  the  literal  correctness  of  the 
inspired  narrative  and  of  the  uniformity  of  all  things  in 
Egypt.  We  read  in  the  5th  chapter  of  Exodus  that  when 
Moses  and  Aaron  had  been  before  Pharaoh,  "  he  said,  Be- 
hold the  people  of  the  land  now  are  many,  and  ye  make 
them  rest  from  their  burdens.  And  Pharaoh  commanded 
the  same  day  the  taskmasters  of  the  people  and  their 
officers,  saying,  Ye  shall  no  more  give  the  people  straw  to 
make  brick,  as  heretofore ;  let  them  go  and  gather  straw 
for  themselves.  And  the  tale  of  bricks  which  they  did 
make  heretofore  ye  shall  lay  upon  them ;  ye  shall  not  di- 
minish aught  thereof."  In  consequence  of  this  arbitrary 
and  cruel  order,  the  taskmasters  hastened  them,  saying, 
"  Fulfil  your  works,  your  daily  tasks,  as  when  there  was  straw. 
And  the  officers  of  the  children  of  Israel  which  Pharaoh's 
taskmasters  had  set  over  them  were  beaten,  and  demanded, 
Wherefore  have  ye  not  fulfilled  your  task,  in  making  brick 
both  yesterday  and  to-day,  as  heretofore  ?  "  The  picture 
referred  to  shows  the  actual  carrying  out  of  this  cruel  mode 
of  procedure.  Two  of  the  Egyptian  officers  over  the  Is- 
raelites, sufficiently  distinguished  from  them  by  their  head- 
dresses and  complexions,  are  compelled  by  the  blows  of 
the  taskmasters  over  them,  to  bear  themselves  the  vessels 
of  clay  and  the  brick  yoke,  and  to  complete  the  work  which 
they  had  failed  to  exact  from  the  captives  committed  to 
their  charge.  That  these  men  had  not  come  forth  to  labor 
is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  right  hand  figure  with  the 
yoke,  who,  having  not  yet  taken  up  his  burden,  has  not  yet 
girt  his  loins,  like  his  companions  and  all  the  other  laborers 
in  the  picture,  and  also  according  to  the  invariable  custom 
in  the  East,  but  still  wears  his  dress  loose,  after  the  fashion 


AKCHJEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  379 

of  the  officer  who  is  sitting  in  the  centre  with  the  baton, 
and  of  the  supreme  taskmaster  (probably  the  personage 
by  whom  the  tomb  was  excavated),  who  is  represented  as 
beating  the  officer  his  companion. 

So  close  is  the  representation  by  Egyptian  artists  of  the 
very  scene  which  the  sacred  Book  describes ! 

But  the  existing  evidence  of  the  bondage  in  which  the 
Israelites  were  held  during  the  latter  part  of  their  sojourn 
in  Egypt,  is  probably  of  far  wider  extent  than  this  single 
picture.  A  learned  writer 1  on  the  antiquities  of  Egypt 
has  forcibly  presented  the  considerations  which  support 
this  view. 

"  The  great  works  of  Egypt  in  that  age  were  chiefly  of  a 
monumental  character,  and  on  these  would  the  Israelites  be 
employed.  The  quarries  whence  the  stones  were  obtained 
were  in  the  Sinaitic  wilderness.  Thither  wrould  the  Israel- 
ites be  marched  in  gangs,  and  the  blocks  of  granite  which 
were  hewn  in  these  quarries  they  would  afterwards  have  to 
transport  across  the  desert.  Others  of  the  oppressed  race 
were  employed,  doubtless  in  making  bricks  of  Nile  mud, 
so  extensively  used  in  the  walls  of  huge  quadrangular  pre- 
cincts of  the  temples,  and  the  cloisters  and  cells  attached 
to  them.  And  as  at  that  epoch  the  mechanical  arts  were 
extremely  simple,  the  amount  of  work  done  depended 
mainly  upon  the  amount  of  human  force  which  the  sov- 
ereign of  Egypt  could  bring  to  bear  in  the  construction  of 
his  works.  If,  then,  there  be  truth  in  the  Bible  narrative, 
and  if  Rameses  be  the  '  king  who  knew  not  Joseph,' 
we  should  expect  to  find  that  the  monuments  erected 
during  his  reign  surpassed  those  of  any  other  of  the  Pha- 
raohs, seeing  none  of  them  had  such  an  amount  of  forced 
labor  at  their  command. 

"  Now  we  do  not  shrink  from  the  test.  There  is  a 
Pharaoh  who  is  distinguished  from  all  his  predecessors  and 
1  Osburn's  Israel  in  Egy.pt,  .pp.  196-205. 


380  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE   BIBLE. 

from  all  who  came  after  him  by  the  enormous  number  of 
the  monumental  memorials  of  his  reign.  There  is  a  Pha- 
raoh whose  name  is  stamped  on  every  crumbling  mound  in 
Egypt  and  Nubia,  and  on  almost  every  Coptic  monument 
in  the  museums  of  Europe.  There  is  a  Pharaoh  whose  ex- 
isting monuments  actually  surpass  those  of  all  the  other 
sovereigns  of  Egypt  put  together.  That  Pharaoh  is  Ra- 
meses.  Every  crumbling  heap  that  dots  the  valley  of  the 
Nile — every  ruined  temple,  almost  every  statue  and  sphinx 
in  that  land  of  wonders,  proclaims  that  there  was  an  epoch 
of  fearful  bondage  in  Egypt — an  epoch  when  millions  of 
slaves  were  urged  by  the  lash  to  their  daily  tasks — and  that 
there  was  a  king  in  that  land  who  reduced  the  full  half  of 
his  subjects  into  slavery,  and  set  them  to  work  in  the  con- 
struction of  cities,  and  strongholds  and  gigantic  monu- 
ments, which,  after  four  thousand  years,  excite  the  specta- 
tor's astonishment.  Over  and  over  the  soil  is  written,  in 
ineradicable  characters,  the  great  fact  of  the  oppression. 
The  whole  land  cries  aloud  that  once  it  was  a  '  house  of 
bondage.'  What  a  convincing  and  overwhelming  proof 
'of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  ! " 

The  other  direct  illustration  from  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  of  the  inspired  history  is  the  invasion  of  Judea  by 
Pharaoh  Shishak  in  the  reign  of  Rehoboam,  the  son  of  Sol- 
omon,— the  history  of  which  is  given  in  the  twelfth  chapter 
of  the  second  book  of  Chronicles.  We  there  find  him 
marching  against  Jerusalem  with  chariots  and  horsemen 
and  people  without  number — the  Lubims,  the  Sukkims,  and 
the  Ethiopians.  The  humiliation  and  penitence  of  Reho- 
boam, under  the  warnings  of  Shemaiah  the  prophet,  avert- 
ed from  him  the  calamity  of  the  entire  loss  of  his  king- 
dom ;  but  while  the  Lord  declared  that  he  should  not 
utterly  be  destroyed,  he  nevertheless  added,  that  the  peo- 
ple should  be  servants  of  Shishak, — that  is,  should  taste 
the  bitterness  of  a  foreign  yoke.  Shishak  came  and  took 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  381 

away  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
king's  treasures — "  he  took  all " — and  though  his  stern 
purpose  was  mollified  by  Him  in  whose  hand  are  the  hearts 
of  kings,  that  he  did  not  retain  Judea  in  subjection,  yet 
for  the  time  it  was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  conquered 
province. 

On  the  walls  of  the  great  Temple  at  Karnak  this  suc- 
cessful invasion  of  Judah  is  commemorated.  Copies  of  some 
of  the  inscriptions  there  remaining  having  found  their  way 
to  Europe,  the  celebrated  Champollion  without  ever  having 
seen  Egypt  was  enabled  to  detect  the  hieroglyphic  name 
of  this  monarch  and  read  it — "  Beloved  of  Amon,  She- 
shouk."  It  was  four  years  afterwards  before  Champollion 
saw  Egypt,  during  which  interval,  says  Mr.  Gliddon,  "  the 
name  of  Sheshonk  and  his  captive  nations  had  been  exam- 
ined times  without  number  by  other  hieroglyphists,  and  the 
names  of  all  the  prisoners  had  been  copied  by  them  and 
published,  without  any  of  them  having  noticed  the  extraor- 
dinary biblical  corroboration  thence  to  be  deduced.''  On 
his  passage  toward  Nubia,  Champollion  landed  for  an  hour 
or  two,  about  sunset,  to  snatch  a  hasty  view  of  the  ruins  of 
Karnak  ;  and  on  entering  one  of  the  halls,  he  found  a  pic- 
ture representing  a  triumph,  in  which  he  instantly  pointed 
out  in  the  third  line  of  a  row  of  sixty-three  prisoners  (each 
indicating  a  city,  nation  or  tribe)  presented  by  Sheshonk  to 
his  god  Amon,  a  figure  with  this  inscription  attached  in 
hieroglyphic  characters,  "  Judah  melek  kah,"  or  "  king  of 
the  country  of  Judah." 

This  picture  had  been  executed  by  the  order  of  Shishak 
or  Sheshonk,  so  that  here  was  found  the  sculptured  record 
of  the  invasion  and  the  conquest  recorded  in  the  Chronicles. 
On  the  same  picture  were  shields,  containing  in  hiero- 
glyphics the  names  Bethhoron,  Megiddo,  Mahanaim,  and 
some  others,  all  towns  through  which  Shishak  passed  on  his 
invasion  of  Judea. 


382  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

What  more  complete  and  unambiguous  corroboration 
of  the  Scripture  history  could  be  required  ? 

Leaving  Egypt,  we  will  now  proceed  to  another  region 
in  which  remarkable  discoveries  confirmatory  of  the  truth 
of  the  Bible  have  been  unveiled. 

Half  a  century  ago,  the  once  famed  capital  of  the  Edom 
of  Scripture  was  only  known  by  the  references  to  it  in  the 
ancient  writers,  and  by  some  wild  Arabian  legends,  which 
recognized  the  existence  of  a  petrified  city  in  the  desert, 
whose  inhabitants  had  been  swept  away  by  the  vengeance 
of  th  e  Almighty.  In  the  year  1812,  the  traveller  Burkhardt 
first  found  a  clue  to  the  labyrinth  in  which  the  long  lost 
city  lay  concealed. 

The  value  of  that  discovery  as  confirmatory  of  Holy 
Scripture,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Bible  record  concerning 
Edom  will  enable  us  the  better  to  understand. 

Desolate  as  Mount  Seir  now  appears,  it  was  one  of  the 
earliest  seats  of  civilization,  power  and  grandeur.  Its  his- 
tory goes  back  to  the  time  of  Esau,  "  the  father  of  Edom  ;  " 
and  we  read  that  princes  and  dukes,  eight  successive  kings, 
.  and  again  a  long  line  of  dukes,  dwelt  there  before  any  king 
"  reigned  over  Israel."  At  a  period  coeval  with  the  Exodus, 
the  land  of  Edom  was  in  a  highly  cultivated  state,  with 
fields,  vineyards,  highways,  and  a  numerous  population,  and 
Petra  was  probably  even  then  the  central  point  of  an  exten- 
sive caravan  trade,  which  was  conducted  for  many  ages 
afterward  between  the  countries  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  Egypt, 
and  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  According  to  allu- 
sions in  the  book  of  Job,  himself  an  Edomite,  the  year  and 
the  months  were  regularly  defined,  kings  and  great  men 
had  been  accustomed  to  build  for  themselves  splendid 
tombs,  and  the  people  were  in  possession  of  great  wealth 
in  gold  and  silver.  They  were  acquainted  with  the  weaver's 
shuttle,  and  the  use  of  scales,  and  made  cheese  from  milk ; 
gardens  were  protected  by  ground  traps  and  snares ;  in- 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCO VEEIES.  383 

scriptions  were  cut  on  tablets,  attached  to  the  faces  of  the 
rocks ;  archers  had  steel  bows,  with  quivers  for  their  arrows ; 
the  spear,  shield,  and  sword  were  ordinary  weapons  in  bat- 
tle ;  while  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  called  to  the  combat, 
in  which  the  war  horse  figured,  finely  described  as  having 
his  "  neck  clothed  with  thunder."  For  many  ages  after  the 
time  of  Job  this  people  held  and  retained  no  mean  emi- 
nence in  arts  and  in  arms,  in  science  and  in  commerce,  and 
in  the  wealth,  refinement,  and  luxury  which  extensive  and 
prosperous  commerce  brings  along  with  it.  But  it  lacked 
that  righteousness  which  alone  permanently  exalteth  a 
people.  For  numerous  acts  of  treachery  and  hostility,  com- 
mitted at  different  periods  against  the  descendants  of  Jacob, 
though  a  kindred  race,  a  malediction  of  the  most  awful  de- 
scription was  pronounced  upon  the  land  of  Esau's  posterity. 
From  the  height  of  worldly  prosperity  it  was  doomed  to 
fall  into  the  most  abject  state  of  wretchedness  and  desola- 
tion. While  it  was  yet  a  land  of  palaces  and  fortresses,  of 
wise  men  and  mighty  men,  the  word  of  prophecy  had  thus 
spoken  its  fate : 

"  From  generation  to  generation  it  shall  lie  waste, 
None  shall  pass  through  it  forever  and  ever. 
But  the  cormorant  and  the  bittern  shall  possess  it ; 
The  owl  also  and  the  raven  shall  dwell  in  it : 
And  He  shall  stretch  out  upon  it  the  line  of  confusion, 
And  the  stones  of  emptiness. 
They  shall  call  the  nobles  thereof  to  the  kingdom, 
But  none  shall  be  there. 
And  all  her  princes  shall  be  nothing. 
And  thorns  shall  come  up  in  her  palaces, 
Nettles  and  brambles  in  the  fortresses  thereof: 
And  it  shall  be  a  habitation  for  dragons, 
And  a  court  for  owls." — ISAIAH  xxxiv.  10-13. 

"  The  pride  of  thine  heart  hath  deceived  thee, 
Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  whose  habitation  is  high ; 
That  saith  in  his  heart,  Who  shall  bring  me  down  to  the  ground  ? 


TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

Though  thou  exalt  thyself  as  the  eagle, 

And  though  thou  set  thy  nest  among  the  stars, 

Thence  will  I  bring  thee  down,  saith  the  Lord. 

How  are  the  things  of  Esau  searched  out !  ... 

How  are  his  hidden  things  sought  up  ! 

Shall  I  not  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord, 

Even  destroy  the  wise  men  out  of  Edom, 

And  understanding  out  of  the  mount  of  Esau? 

And  thy  mighty  men,  0  Teman,  shall  be  dismayed, 

To  the  end  that  every  one  of  the  mount  of  Esau 

May  be  cut  off  by  slaughter." — OBADIAH. 

So  exactly  did  the  ruined  city  which  was  brought  to 
view  among  the  desert  ranges  of  Mount  Seir  answer  to  the 
description  given  by  the  prophets,  that  if  a  painter  had 
sought  to  depict  a  city  from  the  words  of  the  prophecy,  he 
could  hardly  have  failed  to  give  some  resemblance  to  her 
present  appearance.  The  travellers  found  her  holding  the 
heights  of  the  hill,  her  dwellings  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks, 
like  the  nests  of  the  eagle,  set  among  the  stars,  and,  viewing 
the  strength  of  her  position,  could  imagine  her  former 
boast :  Who  shall  bring  me  -down  to  the  ground  ?  Yet  the 
extent  of  her  desolation  manifested  how  fully  Jehovah  had 
redeemed  his  word — thence  will  I  bring  thee  down.  La- 
borde  describes  the  first  view  of  the  city,  bursting  upon  the 
eye  of  the  traveller  approaching  from  the  south,  from  the 
heights  above,  as  presenting  "  the  most  singular  spectacle, 
the  most  enchanting  picture,  which  nature  has  wrought  in 
her  grandest  mood  of  creation ;  which  men,  influenced  by 
the  vainest  dreams  of  ambition,  have  yet  bequeathed  to 
succeeding  generations.  At  Palmyra,  nature  renders  the 
works  of  man  insignificant  by  her  own  immensity,  and  her 
boundless  horizon — here  she  appears  delighted  to  set  in  her 
own  noble  frame-work  his  productions,  which  aspire,  and 
not  unsuccessfully,  to  harmonize  with  her  own  majestic  yet 
fantastic  appearance.  The  spectator  hesitates  for  a  moment 
whether  is  most  worthy  of  admiration :  nature  who  invites 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  385 

his  attention  to  her  matchless  girdle  of  rocks,  wondrous  as 
well  for  their  colors  as  for  their  forms,  or  the  men,  who 
feared  not  to  intermingle  the  works  of  their  genius  with 
such  splendid  efforts  of  creative  power."  The  city  is  situ- 
ated in  a  hollow,  surrounded  by  a  superb  enclosure  of  rocks, 
pierced  with  myriads  of  tombs.  The  ravine  into  which  the 
traveller  enters  from  the  east  is  represented  as  becoming 
more  and  more  imposing  at  every  step,  and  the  excavations 
and  sculptures  more  frequent  on  both  sides,  till  it  presents 
at  last  a  continued  street  of  tombs ;  beyond  which  the 
rocks,  gradually  approaching  each  other,  appear  all  at  once 
to  close  without  any  outlet.  There  is,  however,  one  fright- 
ful chasm  for  the  passage  of  the  stream,  which  furnishes,  as 
it  did  anciently,  the  only  avenue  to  Petra  on  this  side. 
This  passed,  the  traveller  reaches  an  area  once  filled  with 
its  close  ranged  dwellings,  and  loud  with  its  busy  life — now 
silent  and  strewn  with  heaps  of  ruin,  fragments  of  founda- 
tions, pavements,  and  arches ;  while  all  around  the  precipi- 
tous cliffs  hewn  into  pillared  fagades,  and  honey-combed 
with  sumptuous  chambers,  show  where  the  princes  of  Edoin 
once  dwelt  "  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  and  held  in  pride  the 
heights  of  the  hill."  (Jer.  xlix.  16.)  The  cry  of  the  bit- 
tern alone  now  disturbs  the  awful  desolation — "  the  line  of 
confusion  and  the  stones  of  emptiness."  The  whole  territory 
of  the  descendants  of  Esau  has  been  swept  as  by  "the 
besom  of  destruction,"  and  presents  a  miracle  of  evidence 
which  defies  cavil  or  contradiction. 

"  I  would,"  says  Mr.  Stephens,  "  that  the  sceptic  could 
stand  as  I  did  among  the  ruins  of  this  city  among  the 
rocks,  and  there  open  the  sacred  book,  and  read  the  words 
of  the  inspired  penman,  written  when  this  desolate  city 
was  one  of  the  greatest  cities  in  the  world.  I  see  the  scoff 
arrested,  his  cheek  pale,  his  lips  quivering,  and  his  heart 
quaking  for  fear,  as  the  ruined  place  cries  out  to  him  in  a 
voice  loud  and  powerful  as  that  of  one  risen  from  the  dead ; 
17 


386  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE  BIBLE. 

though  he  would  not  believe  Moses  and  the  prophets,  he 
believes  the  handwriting  of  God  himself  in  the  desolation 
and  eternal  ruin  around  him." 

"  Many  prophets,"  says  Laborde,  "  have  announced  the 
misery  of  Idumaea,  but  the  strong  language  of  Ezekiel  can 
alone  come  up  to  the  height,  or  reach  the  acme  of  this  great 
desolation."  "  Every  one  that  passeth  by  Edom  is  -aston- 
ished at  it,"  as  the  prediction  intimated.  And  the  first  sen- 
timent of  "  astonishment "  in  the  contemplation  of  it  is, 
how  such  a  region  could  ever  have  been  adorned  with 
cities,  or  tenanted  for  ages  by  a  powerful  and  opulent  peo- 
ple. "  Its  present  aspect  would  belie  its  ancient  history," 
says  Dr.  Keith,  "were  not  that  history  corroborated  by 
the  many  vestiges  of  former  cultivation,  by  the  remains  of 
walls  and  paved  roads,  and  by  the  ruins  of  cities  still  ex- 
isting in  this  ruined  country.  The  total  cessation  of  its 
commerce;  the  artificial  irrigation  of  its  valleys  wholly 
neglected;  the  destruction  of  all  the  cities,  and  the  con- 
tinued spoliation  of  the  country  by  the  Arabs ;  the  perma- 
nent exposure  for  ages  of  the  soil,  unsheltered  by  its  ancient 
groves,  and  unprotected  by  any  covering  from  the  rays  of 
the  sun ;  the  unobstructed  encroachments  of  the  desert, 
and  of  the  drifted  sands  from  the  borders  of  the  Red  Sea  ; 
the  consequent  absorption  of  the  water  of  the  springs  and 
the  springlets  during  summer — are  causes  wrhich  may  have 
all  combined  their  baneful  operation  in  rendering  Edom 
most  desolate,  the  desolation  of  desolations." 

"  Perfect  as  has  been  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  in 
regard  to  Idumsea,  in  no  one  particular  has  its  truth  been 
more  awfully  verified  than  in  the  complete  destruction  of 
its  inhabitants,  in  the  extermination  of  the  race  of  the 
Edomites.  In  the  same  day,  and  by  the  voice  of  the  same 
prophets,  came  the  separate  denunciations  against  the  de- 
scendants of  Israel  and  of  Edom,  declaring  against  both  a 
complete  change  of  their  temporal  condition ;  and  while 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  387 

the  Jews  have  been  dispersed  in  every  country  under 
heaven,  and  are  still  in  every  land,  a  separate  and  unmixed 
people,  '  the  Edomites  have  been  cut  off  forever,  and  there 
is  not  any  remaining  of  the  house  of  Esau.' 

"  '  Wisdom  has  departed  from  Teman,  and  understand- 
ing from  the  mount  of  Esau ; '  and  the  miserable  Arab  who 
now  roams  over  the  land  cannot  appreciate  or  understand 
the  works  of  its  ancient  inhabitants." 

To  the  north  of  Edom,  in  a  region  now  called  the  Hau- 
ran,  but  formerly  comprising  the  countries  of  Bashan  and 
Moab,  surprising  discoveries  of  a  most  interesting  charac- 
ter have  recently  yielded  fresh  evidence  of  the  reality  of 
the  Scripture  history. 

In  an  inaugural  address  at  Belfast,  Dr.  Porter l  says  :  "  I 
remember  well,  how  in  former  days  I  studied  the  geogra- 
phy of  Palestine  ;  and  with  what  intense  interest  I  read  of 
the  great  citie"s  and  warlike  exploits  of  Og,  the  giant  king 
of  Bashan.  I  observed,  with  no  little  surprise,  that  a  single 
province  of  his  little  kingdom  contained  '  three  score  cities 
fenced  with  walls,  besides  unwalled  towns  a  great  many.' 
I  remember  how  on  turning  to  my  atlas,  I  found  that  the 
whole  of  Bashan  was  not  larger  than  an  ordinary  English 
county.  I  was  astonished,  and  though  my  faith  in  the  di- 
vine record  was  not  shaken,  yet  I  thought  that  some  strange 
statistical  mystery  hung  over  the  passage.  That  one  city, 
nourished  by  the  commerce  of  a  mighty  empire,  might 
grow  till  her  people  could  be  numbered  by  millions,  I  could 
weU  believe ;  that  two  or  three  might  spring  up  in  favored 
spots,  clustered  together,  I  could  also  believe;  but  that 
sixty  walled  cities,  besides  unwalled  towns  a  great  many, 
should  exist  at  such  a  remote  age,  far  from  the  sea,  with  no 
rivers,  and  little  commerce,  appeared  altogether  inexpli- 
cable. Inexplicable  though  it  seems,  it  was  strictly  true. 
On  the  very  spot,  with  my  own  eyes,  I  have  verified  it. 
i  Author  of-"  Five  Years  in  Damascus." 


388  TESTIMONY   OF  SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

More  than  thirty  of  these  great  cities  I  have  myself  vis- 
ited. When  standing,  on  one  occasion,  on  the  summit  of 
the  mountain  range  of  Bashan,  I  could  see  at  a  single 
glance  every  city  the  sacred  penman  referred  to.  Many 
of  them,  though  deserted  for  centuries,  have  their  massive 
walls  and  massive  old  houses  still  perfect.  The  Cyclopean 
architecture  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Palestine — of 
the  Emim,  and  Anakim  and  Rephaim — still  stands  to  bear 
testimony  to  the  facts  of  revelation." 

Elsewhere,  the  same  learned  writer  says :  "  In  the  mi- 
nutest particulars  my  researches  bear  testimony  to  the 
faithfulness  of  Bible  narrative  and  description.  The  nu- 
merous and  extensive  ruined  cities  and  villages  scattered 
over  its  surface  tell  of  its  former  populousness,  and  are  the 
present  memorials  of  its  ancient  strength  and  greatness. 
The  oak  forests  still  cover  its  mountain  sides ;  its  pastures 
are  still  celebrated  for  their  richness,  and  its  soil  is  prover- 
bial for  its  fertility.  The  ancient  names,  too,  cling  to  it 
yet ;  and  we  have  Bashan,  and  Golan,  and  Kenath,  and 
Salchah,  and  Bozrah,  and  Kerioth,  and  Hauran  and  Edrei, 
but  little  changed  by  the  lapse  of  long  centuries.  Thus 
does  it  appear  that  the  more  extensive  our  research,  and 
the  more  minute  our  investigations,  the  more  full  and  ac- 
curate will  be  our  illustrations  of  the  Word  of  God." — 
Five  Years  in  Damascus,  vol.  ii.  pp.  271,  272. 

Beyond  Salchah,  the  frontier  town  of  Bashan,  which 
was  the  farthest  point  reached  by  Dr.  Porter,  discoveries 
of  equal  if  not  greater  interest  have  since  been  made  in 
the  neighboring  country — the  old  land  of  Moab.  Scarcely 
anything  was  known  of  its  interior,  and  especially  of  the 
eastern  portion,  until  the  year  1857,  when  for  the  first  time 
it  was  explored  by  a  modern  traveller,  Mr.  Graham,  of 
Cambridge.  The  following  extract  from  his  contribution 
to  the  Cambridge  Essays  for  1858,  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  result  of  his  researches :  "  Perhaps  of  all  those  which 


AECH^EOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  389 

we  saw  in  our  journey,  none  struck  us  more  than  the  large 
towns  in  the  plain  south  and  east  of  Salchah.  Among 
them  there  was  one  in  particular  which  made  an  impres- 
sion on  us  we  shall  never  lose — it  was  Um-el-Jemul,  the 
ancient  Beth-Gamul,  a  very  large  city,  and  to  be  compared 
almost  with  the  modern  Jerusalem.  It  is  very  perfect ;  and 
as  we  walked  about  among  the  streets,  and  entered  every 
house,  and  opened  the  stone  doors,  and  saw  the  rooms  as  if 
they  had  just  been  left,  and  then  thought  that  we  were 
actually  in  the  private  dwellings  of  a  people  who  for  two 
thousand  years  had  '  ceased  to  be  a  people,'  we  felt  a  kind 
of  awe,  and  realized  in  a  manner  that  we  never,  perhaps, 
could  feel  elsewhere,  how  perfectly  every  tittle  of  God's 
word  is  carried  out ;  and  whether  it  be  a  blessing  that  is 
spoken  or  a  curse,  it  continues  to  be  so — nothing  is  remit- 
ted until  all  be  fulfilled.  These  cities  of  Moab,  which  are 
still  so  perfect  that  they  might  again  be  inhabited  to-mor- 
row, have  been  during  many  centuries  unpeopled.  The 
land  about  them,  rich  and  fruitful  as  any  in  Syria,  has  long 
ceased  to  produce  aught  but  shrubs  and  herbs,  the  food  of 
the  camel  and  the  antelope.  The  sound  of  the  rejoicing  at 
harvest-time,  and  the  song  of  the  grape-gatherers,  has  long 
since  died  away ;  and  for  centuries,  these  old  cities,  which 
were  once  the  scene  of  so  much  life  and  so  much  rejoicing, 
have  been  still ;  and  no  sound,  save  the  cry  of  wild  animals, 
has  been  heard  in  them.  How  wonderfully  true  are  these 
words — '  Moab  is  destroyed.  Give  wings  unto  Moab,  that 
it  may  flee  and  get  away ;  for  the  cities  thereof  shall  be 
desolate,  without  any  to  dwell  therein.  Moab  is  spoiled 
and  gone  out  of  her  cities.  Moab  is  confounded,  and  judg- 
ment is  come  upon  the  plain  country.  Upon  Beth-Gamul 
.  .  .  and  upon  Kerioth,  and  upon  Bozrah,  and  upon  all 
the  cities  of  the  land  of  Moab  far  and  near,  the  horn  of 
Moab  is  cut  off,  and  his  arm  is  broken,  saith  the  Lord.' 
Again,  in  all  this  country  there  is  now  no  fruit  except  at 


390  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO   THE  BIBLE. 

Salchah,  where  there  are  some  wild  vines  and  pomegran- 
ates and  figs,  but  before  they  are  quite  ripe  the  Arabs  of 
the  desert  plunder  them.  Is  not  this  predicted  ?  '  The 
spoiler  has  fallen  upon  thy  summer  fruits  and  upon  thy 
vintage.  And  joy  and  gladness  is  taken  from  the  plentiful 
field,  and  from  the  land  of  Moab.  And  I  have  caused  wine 
to  fail  from  the  wine-press ;  none  shall  cry  with  shouting  ; 
their  shouting  shall  be  no  shouting.  And  Moab  shall  be 
destroyed  from  being  a  people,  because  he  hath  magnified 
himself  against  the  Lord.  Woe  unto  thee,  O  Moab  !  .  .  . 
for  thy  sons  are  taken  captives  and  thy  daughters  captives.' 
Can  we  have  stronger  evidence  of  the  accurate  fulfilment 
of  prophecy  than  by  comparing  what  we  see  in  this  coun- 
try with  the  words  of  Jeremiah  spoken  2,500  years  ago  ? 
When  he  spoke  these  words  Moab  was  powerful  and  proud, 
and  laughed  at  the  thought  of  what  he  said.  They  cried — 
4  We  are  strong  and  mighty,  and  no  enemy  can  overcome 
us !  How  say  ye,  we  are  mighty,  and  strong  men  for  the 
way !  We  have  heard  of  the  pride  of  Moab  (he  is  exceed- 
ing proud),  his  loftiness  and  his  arrogancy,  and  his  pride, 
and  the  haughtiness  of  his  heart.'  " 

No  less  than  fourteen  of  these  ancient  towns  were  visit- 
ed by  Mr.  Graham,  and  in  connection  with  them  he  further 
remarks :  "  When  we  find  (such)  great  stone  cities  (Deut. 
iii),  walled  and  unwalled,  with  stone  gates,  and  so  crowded 
together  that  it  becomes  a  matter  of  wonder  how  all  the 
people  could  have  lived  hi  so  small  a  tract  of  country ; 
when  we  see  houses  built  of  such  huge  and  massive  stones 
that  no  force  which  could  ever  have  been  brought  against 
them  in  that  country,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  batter 
them  down ;  when  we  find  rooms  in  those  houses  so  large 
and  lofty  that  many  of  them  would  be  considered  fine 
rooms  in  a  large  house  in  Europe ;  and  lastly,  when  we 
find  some  of  these  towns  bear  the  very  name  which  cities 
in  that  country  bore  before  the  Israelites  came  out  of 


AKCHJEOLOGICAL   DISCOVEEIES.  391 

Egypt,  I  think  we  cannot  help  feeling  the  strongest  con- 
viction that  we  have  before  us  the  cities  of  the  giants 
(Rephaim),  the  cities  of  the  land  of  Moab.  They  have 
been  gradually  deserted  as  the  Arabs  of  the  desert  have 
increased  in  number,  and  now,  south  and  east  of  Salkhad, 
not  one  of  these  many  towns  is  inhabited."  .  .  . 

..."  Very  different  is  the  present  condition  of  the 
towns  of  Moab  from  those  of  the  neighboring  Edom — from 
those  heaps  of  rubbish  which  are  strewn  over  the  basin  of 
Petra — the  nest  of  the  eagle  that  built  in  the  crags  torn  to 
pieces,  in  token  that  it  will  be  built  no  more.  In  this  con- 
trast there  would  seem  to  be  some  special  design  of  Provi- 
dence; and  it  is  in  accordance  with  prophetic  hints  and 
foreshadowings  of  changes  that  yet  lie  in  the  obscurity  of 
future  time.  For  while  Idumea  is  to  be  a  '  perpetual  deso- 
lation,' it  is  written,  '  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
Moab  in  the  latter  days,  saith  the  Lord.'  The  tide  of  life 
has  ebbed  forever  from  the  one,  and  left  it  empty  and  for- 
lorn as  a  naked  beach ;  but  here  it  may  return  to  its  former 
channels,  and  flow  with  a  fuller  current  than  of  old.  The 
household  lamp  may  once  more  be  lighted  in  the  dwellings ; 
the  cheerful  stir  and  murmur  of  men  he  heard  in  the  streets; 
the  song  of  the  reaper,  the  joy  of  the  vintage,  the  innocent 
mirth  of  children;  and,  sweeter  than  all,  the  melodies  of 
Sabbath  praise." 

The  neighboring  land  of  the  kindred  people  of  Ammon 
has  also  yielded  up  its  quota  of  evidence  for  the  Bible. 
"  We  descended,"  writes  Lord  Lindsay,  "  a  precipitous 
strong  slope  into  the  valley  of  Ammon,  and  crossed  a  beau- 
tiful stream,  bordered  by  a  strip  of  stunted  grass.  The 
hills  on  both  sides  were  rocky  and  bare,  and  pierced  with 
excavations  and  natural  caves.  Here,  at  a  turning  in  the 
narrow  valley,  commence  the  antiquities  of  Ammon.  It 
was  situated  on  both  sides  of  the  stream, — the  dreariness  of 
its  present  aspect  is  quite  indescribable,  it  looks  like  the 


392  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

abode  of  Death.  The  valley  stinks  with  dead  camels;  one 
of  them  was  rotting  in  the  stream ;  and  though  we  saw 
none  among  the  ruins,  they  were  absolutely  covered  in 
every  direction  with  their  dung.  That  morning's  ride 
would  have  convinced  a  sceptic.  How  runs  the  prophecy  ? 
4 1  will  make  Rabbah  a  stable  for  camels,  and  the  Ammon- 
ites a  couching  place  for  flocks ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  the  Lord.' 

"  Nothing  but  the  croaking  of  frogs,  and  screams  of  wild 
birds,  broke  the  silence  as  we  advanced  up  this  valley  of 
desolation.  We  examined  the  ruins  more  at  detail  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  It  was  a  bright  and  cheerful  day ;  but 
still  the  valley  is  a  very  dreary  spot,  even  when  the  sun 
shines  brightest.  Vultures  were  garbaging  on  a  camel,  as 
we  slowly  rode  back  through  the  glen.  Ammon  is  now 
quite  deserted,  except  by  the  Bedouins,  who  water  their 
flocks  at  its  little  river.  Re-ascending  the  slope,  we  met 
sheep  and  goats  by  thousands,  and  camels  by  hundreds, 
coming  down  to  drink.  'Ammon  shall  be  a  desolation, 
and  Rabbah  of  the  Ammonites  shall  be  a  desolate  heap.'  " 

But  the  crowning  discovery  of  the  century  has  been  in 
a  yet  more  distant  region,  yielding  an  amount  of  additional 
illustration  and  confirmation  of  the  sacred  word  as  great 
and  important  as  it  was  unexpected. 

A  thousand  miles  remote  from  the  highways  of  modern 
commerce  and  the  routes  of  ordinary  travel,  a  far  mightier 
city  than  the  rock-built  metropolis  of  Edom  lay  buried  in 
the  sandy  earth  of  a  half- desert  Turkish  province,  with  no 
certain  trace  of  its  place  of  sepulture.  Vague  tradition 
said  that  it  was  hidden  somewhere  near  the  river  Tigris ; 
but  when  Xenophon  with  his  Greeks  in  their  celebrated 
retreat  passed  by  the  mound  of  Nimroud  which  he  de- 
scribes, the  name  of  Nineveh  was  already  forgotten  on  its 
very  site.  It  afterwards  reappears  on  the  pages  of  Greek 
and  Roman  writers,  but  for  ages  the  former  queen  of  na- 


AKCHJEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  393 

tions  was  nothing  more  than  a  name,  suggesting  the  idea 
of  an  ancient  capital  of  fabulous  splendor  and  magnificence ; 
a  mighty  collection  of  palaces  and  other  buildings,  vast  but 
scarcely  real. 

More  than  two  thousand  years  had  it  thus  lain  in  its 
unknown  grave,  when  an  English  traveller  and  a  French 
consul,  Layard  and  Botta,  sought  the  seat  of  the  once  pow- 
erful empire,  and  searching  'mid 

"Hillocks  heap'd 

On  what  were  chambers,  arch  crush'd  column  strown 
In  fragments,  choked-up  vaults  and  frescoes  steep'd 
In  subterranean  damps  " — 

discovered  the  buried  city,  disentombed  her  temple  palaces 
from  the  sepulchre  of  ages,  and  unveiled  to  an  astonished 
and  curious  world,  the  pomp  and  pageantry  of  Assyrian 
monarchs.  The  Nineveh  of  Scripture,  the  great  city  "  of 
three  days'  journey,"  that  was  "  laid  waste  and  there  was 
none  to  bemoan  her,"  whose  greatness  sank  ere  the  coming 
orb  of  Roman  dominion  had  ascended  the  horizon,  the 
Nineveh  in  which  the  captive  tribes  of  Israel  had  labored 
and  wept,  was,  after  a  sleep  of  twenty  centuries,  again 
brought  to  light.  The  long  lost  was  found.  The  regal 
halls  were  once  more  trodden ;  the  proofs  of  ancient  splen- 
dor were  again  beheld  by  human  eyes,  and  the  gorgeous 
description  of  the  poet  drawn  in  colors  borrowed  from  the 
sacred  page,  shown  to  have  been  a  reality : 

"  The  days  of  old  return ; — I  breathe  the  air 
Of  the  young  world ; — I  see  her  giant  sons 
Like  to  a  gorgeous  pageant  in  the  sky 
Of  summer's  evening,  cloud  on  fiery  cloud 
Thronging  up  heaped, — before  me  rise  the  walla 
Of  the  Titanic  city — brazen  gates — 
Towers — temples — palaces  enormous  piled — 
Imperial  Nineveh,  the  earthly  queen ! 
In  all  her  golden  pomp  I  see  her  now." — ATHERSTON. 

That  he  may  the  better  understand  the  range  and  ex- 
17* 


394  TESTIMONY    OF    SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

tent  of  these  discoveries,  let  the  reader  suppose  himself 
standing  on  the  highest  part  of  the  city  of  Mosul  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Tigris.  Looking  across  the  river,  the 
eye  rests  on  a  long  range  of  ancient  mounds.  At  the 
southern  end  is  the  irregular  platform  on  which  stands  the 
village  of  Nebby  Yeonas,  with  its  spacious  mosque  and 
capacious  cemetery.  Towards  the  northern  extremity 
rises  the  huge  plateau  of  Kouyunjik,  whose  ample  surface, 
though  the  palace  of  ancient  Nineveh  lies  entombed  be- 
neath, has  long  rewarded  the  toil  of  the  cultivator  as  richly 
as  the  plain  below.  This  mound  is  but  one  of  many. 
Others  are  found  at  Nimroud,  about  eighteen  miles  lower 
down  the  river,  near  the  junction  of  the  Greater  Zab ;  at 
Karasules,  about  twelve  miles  north  of  Nimroud,  and  at 
Khorsabad,  nearly  the  same  distance  north  of  Kouyunjik. 
These  points  form  the  four  corners  of  a  rhomboid,  the 
circumference  of  which  is  sixty  miles,  which  answers  to 
the  three  days'  journey  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  twenty 
miles  being  as  in  ancient  days  the  computation  of  a  day's 
journey.  Within  this  space  a  vast  number  of  smaller 
mounds,  remains  of  pottery,  bricks  and  other  fragments, 
indicate  where  once  stood  the  private  habitations  of  the 
great  city. 

Other  mounds  of  great  extent  are  found  at  Kalah 
Sherghat,  supposed  to  be  the  ruins  of  Calah  (Gen.  x.  11) 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tigris,  forty  miles  below  Nim- 
roud,  at  Babylon  and  Borsippa,  Seukerah  and  Niffer.  They 
are  also  found  along  the  Khabor  and  Euphrates,  and  on 
the  plains  of  Babylonia  and  Chaldea  as  well  as  Mesopotamia 
and  Assyria, 

Many  of  these  have  been  recently  explored,  and  the 
most  precious  treasures  that  ever  rewarded  the  labors  of 
the  antiquary  have  been  brought  to  light ;  for  deep  down 
in  their  interior  have  been  buried  for  thousands  of  years, 
palaces  of  monarchs  who  reigned  from  the  time  when 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  395 

Abraham  went  forth  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  until  near 
the  close  of  Israel's  captivity  in  Babylon,  or  for  a  period 
dating  back  a  thousand  years  before  the  Trojan  war  and 
extending  to  the  early  dawn  of  Roman  greatness. 

Most  of  the  huge  mounds  already  explored  contain, 
buried  up  at  various  depths,  extensive  remains  of  ancient 
palaces.  The  walls  of  these  are  of  great  thickness,  with  a 
panelling  to  the  height  of  about  ten  feet  of  slabs  of  alabas- 
ter. Every  portal  is  guarded  by  strange  mythic  figures 
(winged  bulls  or  lions  with  human  heads),  while  the  slabs 
are  adorned  with  sculptures  of  the  most  elaborate  work- 
manship, painted  in  gorgeous  colors,  and  in  many  cases  as 
fresh  in  their  sharp  and  delicate  lines  as  if  newly  from  the 
chisel  and  pencil  of  the  artist.  These  sculptures  are  the 
records  of  the  empire,  and  under  each  picture  are  engraved, 
in  characters  filled  up  with  bright  copper,  inscriptions 
describing  the  scenes  represented.  The  visitor  to  these 
chambers,  so  long  lost  not  merely  to  the  sight  but  to  the 
knowledge  of  mankind,  sees  spread  before  him  a  highly 
illustrated  historical  volume,  in  which  are  minutely  and 
effectively,  though  often  most  grotesquely,  displayed  all  the 
leading  pursuits  and  characteristics  of  an  extinct  nation ; 
while  the  incidental  details,  no  less  than  the  prominent 
features,  strikingly  and  impressively  illustrate  Scripture 
statements,  and  that  to  such  an  extent  that  there  is  scarcely 
an  obscure  fact  or  expression  in  the  Old  Testament  that  is 
not  made  clear  by  the  knowledge  we  have  already  derived, 
or  may  hope  hereafter  to  obtain  from  the  prosecution  of 
these  discoveries.  "Three  thousand  years  their  cloudy 
wings  expand,"  and  the  men  who  then  trod  these  halls  again 
live  before  him.  There  he  sees  them  "  portrayed  upon  the 
wall,  the  images  of  the  Chaldeans,  portrayed  with  vermil- 
ion, girded  with  girdles  upon  their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed 
attire  upon  their  heads,  all  of  them  princes  to  look  to,  after 
the  manner  of  Babylonians  of  Chaldea  "  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  14, 


396  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

15) — such  as  idolatrous  Jerusalem  saw  when  she  "doted 
upon  the  Assyrians  her  neighbors,  captains  and  rulers, 
clothed  most  gorgeously,  horsemen  riding  upon  horses,  all 
of  them  desirable  young  men"  (ver.  12).  There  are  to  be 
seen,  as  is  believed,  the  "  mighty  hunter,"  Nimrod  himself, 
strangling  a  young  lion  by  pressing  it  against  his  chest — the 
eunuch  in  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Babylon — the  king's 
cupbearer,  to  whom  was  appointed  "  a  daily  provision  of 
the  king's  meat  and  of  the  wine  which  he  drank," — "  the 
governors,  treasurers,  and  rulers  of  provinces,"  such  as  sur- 
rounded Nebuchadnezzar's  image  of  gold — "the  most 
mighty  men  "  in  the  army,  such  as  obeyed  the  behests  of 
the  same  monarch  in  casting  Shadrach  and  his  heroic  com- 
panions into  "  the  burning  fiery  furnace  " — while  figures  of 
the  great  kings  of  Assyria,  in  all  their  pomp  and  magnifi- 
cence, everywhere  presented,  seem  again  to  exact  the  awe 
and  veneration  which  they  once  inspired. 

As  might  be  expected  in  the  case  of  so  warlike  a  people, 
warlike  exploits  occupy  the  largest  portion  of  this  illustrated 
gallery.  All  the  incidents  of  the  successful  campaign  are 
registered  with  a  circumstantiality  and  minuteness  indica- 
tive of  the  national  vanity.  Horsemen  "  lifting  up  both  the 
bright  sword  and  the  glittering  spear,"  and  horses  "  swifter 
than  the  leopards,  and  more  fierce  than  the  evening  wolves" 
— bowmen,  shield  bearers,  and  slingers,  for  whom  were 
prepared  "  shields  and  spears,  and  helmets,  and  habergeons, 
and  bows,  and  slings  to  cast  stones  " — chariots  and  batter- 
ing rams,  the  assault,  the  charge,  the  retreat  and  the  pur- 
suit, the  burning  fort,  and  the  sacked  city — bearded  war- 
riors "  furiously  driving  their  chariot  in  pursuit  of  the  rem- 
nant of  the  inhabitants,  who  are  flying  over  a  rocky  plain, 
strewn  with  headless  bodies" — the  soldier  "  deliberately 
plunging  his  sword  into  the  breast  of  an  adversary  whom 
he  has  driven  down  upon  his  knees  " — the  king  stopping  his 
chariot  •'  to  command  a  register  to  be  made  of  the  number 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  397 

of  the  heads  of  the  slain  piled  up  in  a  heap  before  him  " 
(2  Kings  x.  8),  and,  hovering  over  dead  and  dying,  "  the 
ravenous  beasts  of  every  sort "  (Ezek.  xxxix.  4) — these  hor- 
rid accompaniments  of  a  horrid  system  are  represented 
with  surprising  vigor  and  effect.  It  is  as  if,  instead  of  read- 
ing the  wonderfully  graphic  description  of  Ezekiel  (chap, 
xxvi.  Y-12),  the  visitor  actually  looked  on  "the  king  of 
kings  coming  from  the  north  with  horses,  with  chariots,  and 
with  horsemen,  and  companies,  and  much  people  ;  he  slays 
with  the  sword  the  villages  in  the  fields  ;  he  makes  a  fort 
against  the  city ;  he  casts  a  mount  against  it,  he  lifts  up  a 
buckler  against  it ;  he  sets  engines  of  war  against  the  walls, 
and  with  his  axe  breaks  down  the  towers. 

"  The  walls  shake  at  the  noise  of  the  horsemen  and  of 
the  wheels,  and  of  the  chariots,  when  he  enters  into  the 
gates  or  through  the  breach  with  the  hoofs  of  his  horses, 
he  treads  down  every  street,  he  slays  the  inhabitants  by  the 
sword,  and  strong  garrisons  go  down  to  the  ground.  His 
soldiers  make  a  spoil  of  wealth  and  merchandise.  They 
break  down  the  walls  and  the  pleasant  houses."  "A  fire 
devoureth  before  them,  and  behind  them  a  flame  burneth. 
The  land  is  as  the  garden  of  Eden  before  them,  and  behind 
them  a  desolate  wilderness;  yea,  and  nothing  escapes 
them."  (Joel  ii.  3.) 

To  these  stirring  scenes  succeed  the  treaty  of  peace, 
the  triumphal  march,  the  manacled  prisoners  supplicating 
for  mercy,  "  the  captive  child  and  the  mother  that  bare  it 
cast  out  into  another  country "  (Jer.  xxii.  26),  and  tribute 
bearers  enriching  the  imperial  treasury  with  the  spoils  of 
enslaved  provinces  and  conquered  kingdoms. 

The  charge  of  cruelty  which  the  sacred  writings  bring 
against  ancient  Nineveh  are  fearfully  sustained  by  these 
sculptured  scenes.  In  the  disclosures  made  in  the  "  Hall  of 
Judgment"  and  the  "Chamber  of  Judgment,"  the  "  woe" 
which  the  prophet  Nahum  denounced  against  "  the  bloody 


398  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

city,"  is  shown  to  have  been  well  deserved.  In  the  bassi- 
rilievi  here  are  to  be  seen  prisoners,  some  of  them  supposed 
to  be  Jews  or  Samaritans,  having  rings  in  their  lips,  to 
which  is  attached  a  cord  held  by  the  king,  embodying  lit- 
erally the  metaphor  in  Isaiah's  prophetic  message  sent  in 
reply  to  the  prayer  of  Hezekiah — "  Because  thy  rage  against 
me  and  thy  tumult  is  come  up  into  mine  ears,  therefore 
will  I  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips, 
and  I  will  turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou 
earnest."  (Isa.  xxxvii.  29.)  One  prisoner,  in  addition  to 
having  his  hands  manacled,  has  on  his  ankles  strong  rings 
fastened  by  a  heavy  bar,  the  condition  in  which  the  Assyr- 
ian king  took  Manasseh  to  Babylon  (2  Chron.  xxiii.  11); 
and  perhaps,  resembling  that  of  Zedekiah  when  bound,  at  a 
later  period,  with  fetters  of  brass.  (2  Kings  xxv.  7 ;  Jer. 
xxxix.  7.)  In  another  group  is  a  man  naked,  with  limbs 
outstretched,  and  wrists  and  ankles  fastened  to  pegs  in  the 
table  or  floor,  while  the  "  chief  of  the  slayers  "  is,  with  a 
curved  knife,  beginning  to  remove  the  skin  from  the  back 
of  the  arm  of  the  prisoner,  whose  head  is  turned  towards 
the  king  imploring  pardon,  the  very  words  of  which  petition 
may  possibly  be  contained  in  the  cuneatic  inscription  above. 
In  another  scene  may  be  recognized  the  fate  of  Zedekiah, 
the  king  thrusting  the  point  of  the  spear  into  the  eyes  of 
the  supplicating  prisoner,  while  he  holds  in  his  left  hand  a 
cord  attached  to  rings  in  the  lips  of  two  other  captives. 
Well,  therefore,  did  "  the  bloody  city  "  merit  the  prophet's 
similitude  of  "  an  old  lion,  tearing  in  pieces  his  victims  for 
his  whelps,  and  strangling  them  for  his  lionesses,  and  fill- 
ing his  holes  with  prey,  and  his  dens  with  ravin." 

The  early  Assyrian  kings,  like  the  illustrious  founder 
of  their  monarchy,,  were  "  mighty  hunters,"  and  their  ex- 
ploits in  the  chase  of  wild  animals  are  vividly  represented 
by  the  sculptures.  Among  this  class  of  pictures,  "  the  wild 
bull  in  a  net,"  or  enclosure  of  felled  trees,  as  alluded  to  by 
Isaiah  (ii.  20),  is  seen  exhibiting  his  impotent  rage. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.     ^  399 

The  Assyrian  gods  also  are  there — Baal,  Nisroch  and 
Asherah — still  the  same  as  when  their  portraits  were  drawn 
five  and  twenty  centuries  ago — cut  from  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  decked  with  silver  and  gold,  fastened  with  nails, 
and  clothed  with  purple  and  blue.  The  very  star  to  which 
Amos  alludes  (v.  26)  is  yet  on  those  palace  walls  above  the 
horned  cup  of  the  idol — her 

"  Whom  the  Phoenicians  called 
Astarte,  Queen  of  Heaven,  with  crescent  horns, 
To  whose  bright  image,  nightly  by  the  moon, 
Sidonian  virgins  paid  their  vows  and  songs." 

There  too,  the  "  grove  "  of  Scripture  has  been  identified 
with  the  "  sacred  tree  "  supposed  to  be  an  emblem  or  sym- 
bol of  the  same  goddess  who  was  the  Oriental  Venus.  The 
winged  bulls  and  other  combinations  of  animal  forms  with 
gigantic  human  faces,  so  frequent  in  the  sculptures,  still 
faithfully  guard  these  deserted  halls,  and  are,  probably, 
traditional  representations  of  the  cherubim  that  were  placed 
by  God  as  the  guardians  of  Paradise,  and  which  hence  came 
to  be  symbolic  guardians  of  things  or  places  to  which  access 
was  forbidden. — "  Before  those  wonderful  forms,"  says  Dr. 
Layard,  "Ezekiel,  Jonah,  and  others  of  the  prophets  stood, 
and  Sennacherib  bowed ;  and  even  the  patriarch  Abraham 
himself  may  have  possibly  looked  upon  them."  In  the  floor 
of  the  inner  court,  Botta  found  secret  cavities  containing 
small  images  of  baked  clay  of  repulsive  hybrid  forms;  these 
being,  it  is  suggested,  the  Teraphim  or  images  such  as 
Rachel  took  from  her  father  and  put  in  the  camel's  furni- 
ture, and  sat  upon  them  (Gen.  xxxi.  19,  30,  3-1),  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  original  word  according  with  the  terrifying 
aspect  of  these  figures.  In  the  "  divine  chamber "  were 
found  the  figures  of  two  magi  with  a  gazelle  in  one  hand 
and  the  other  uplifted  in  prayer  ;  and  it  is  inferred  that  in 
this  chamber  they  were  wont  to  be  consulted  by  the  king, 
the  blood  of  the  victims  being  poured  into  a  cavity  in  a 


400  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

slab  in  the  floor.  These  magi,  it  is  supposed  from  their 
form  and  features,  are  one  of  the  four  orders  of  Chaldeans 
mentioned  by  Daniel,  to  whom  the  Assyrian  kings  resorted, 
on  occasions  the  most  trivial  or  important,  for  the  interpre- 
tation of  dreams,  or  the  solution  of  political  problems. 

The  sumptuous  convivialities  of  the  Assyrian  court  are 
delineated  in  the  "  banqueting  hall "  in  which  the  king  was 
wont  to  entertain  "  the  nobles  and  princes  of  the  provinces 
(Esther  i.  3-7),  in  celebration  of  his  conquests  when  the 
harp  and  the  viol  were  in  their  feasts ; "  and  here  too  is 
probably  the  very  recess  in  which  stood  the  wine  vase  of 
a  size  to  contain  royal  wine  in  abundance  according  to  the 
state  of  the  king,  while  his  guests  are  in  the  act  of  drink- 
ing his  health  or  of  pledging  each  other  in  uplifted  cups. 
"The  scene  exhibited  on  such  occasions,"  says  a  recent 
visitor  to  these  ruins,  "  especially  at  night,  when  these 
long  galleries  and  richly  sculptured  chambers  were  illu- 
minated by  the  light  of  lamps — '  cressets  fed  with  naphtha 
or  asphaltum ' — must  have  been  gorgeous  and  imposing 
beyond  measure." 

The  question  as  to  the  early  origin  of  writing,  which 
scepticism  has  brought  to  bear  against  the  authenticity  of 
the  book  of  Genesis,  is  also  settled  by  these  discoveries. 
£>ome  of  the  sculptures  show  manuscripts  unrolled  as  they 
were  read,  telling  us  that  the  Assyrians  were  acquainted 
with  writing  on  parchment  or  papyrus.  Clay  seals  also, 
which  seem  to  have  been  attached  to  such  documents, 
burned  up  or  long  since  decayed,  and  scribes  writing  down 
the  long  lists  of  the  slain  or  the  number  of  the  captives, 
corroborate  this  testimony. 

The  art  of  printing  even  was  in  some  degree  known  to 
those  early  ages,  as  is  testified  by  the  innumerable  bricks 
stamped  with  the  name  of  the  king  before  they  were 
burned,  which  have  been  brought  up  from  the  recesses  of 
the  mounds.  Some  of  these  are  stamped  with  inscriptions 
more  than  three  centuries  older  than  Abraham. 


ABCHJ3OLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  401 

The  letters  on  the  marble  walls,  as  also  the  intaglios. 
on  seals  and  cylinders,  were  engraved  with  a  sharp  instru- 
ment ;  and  when  the  inscription  was  on  the  floor  of  a  palace, 
the  letters  were  often  filled  up  with  some  soft  metal  illus- 
trating that  passage  of  Job  (xix.  23,24),  "  O  that  my  words 
were  graven  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock  forever ! " 

By  a  marvellous  coincidence,  just  as  the  annals  of  the  old 
Assyrian  empire,  engraved  in  alabaster  and  marble,  were 
brought  to  light ;  the  character  and  language  in  which  they 
were  written,  were  at  length  deciphered,  after  having  baffled 
the  ingenuity  and  learning  of  ages.  By  the  profound  study 
of  some  fragments  of  cuneiform  or  arrow-headed  inscrip- 
tions brought  from  Persepolis,  Professor  Grotefend  had 
succeeded  in  determining  the  names  of  Cyrus,  Xerxes, 
Darius  and  Hystaspes,  comprising  nearly  one  third  of  the 
alphabet,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  the  discovery. 
This  was  in  1802.  Little  farther  progress  was  made  until 
the  year  1836,  wh'en  a  more  perfect  clue  was  found  by  Col. 
Rawlinson  on  a  rock  near  the  ruins  of  Behistan — the  Ba- 
gistan  of  ancient  history.  Here,  on  the  perpendicular  face 
of  a  precipice  more  than  300  feet  above  the  base,  is  sculp- 
tured King  Darius  holding  his  bow,  with  two  state  officers 
behind ;  under  his  feet  lies  one  rebel,  while  a  line  of  nine 
others  stand  before  him,  chained  one  behind  another,  with 
their  hands  tied.  Accompanying  these  figures  are  several 
explanatory  inscriptions,  one  of  considerable  length,  written 
in  the  Persian,  Median  or  Scythian  and  Assyrian  languages. 
The  reading  of  the  Persian  portion  of  these  inscriptions, 
accomplished  for  the  more  difficult  and  complicated  Assyr- 
ian versions,  what  the  Greek  of  the  Rosetta  stone  did  for 
the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt ;  it  furnished  the  key  by  the 
aid  of  which  Col.  Rawlinson,  Dr.  Hincks,  and  other  scholars 
have  unlocked  the  depositories  of  Assyrian  and  Babylonian 
lore,  and  deciphered  their  ancient  records.  The  coincidence 
of  their  independent  investigations,  joined  to  the  internal 


402  TESTIMONY    OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

evidence  of  truth  which  the  translations  bear,  places  beyond 
question  the  general  accuracy  of  the  results  at  which  they 
have  arrived. 

A  striking  verification  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  has 
been  furnished  by  these  discoveries  in  the  identification  of 
Scripture  names. 

In  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis  we  read  of  the  cities  of 
"  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calneh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar  ;  " 
"  Calah  and  Resen ; "  and  in  the  eleventh  chapter,  "  Ur 
of  the  Chaldees  "  is  mentioned.  After  that  period  these 
cities  almost  entirely  disappeared  from  the  page  of  history — 
nothing  was  known  of  their  story,  their  fate,  or  even  their 
sites.  Now,  however,  the  bricks  and  stones  that  lay  buried 
for  near  three  thousand  years  beneath  the  mounds  of  Meso- 
potamia have  found  a  tongue,  and  have  not  only  told  us 
where  each  of  these  cities  stood,  but  have  added  interesting 
details  of  their  history. 

The  vast  number  of  the  inscriptions  fcfund  will  require  a 
considerable  length  of  time  for  their  perfect  elucidation ; 
yet  very  important  corroboration  of  the  historical  facts  of 
Scripture  has  already  been  obtained  from  them. 

In  the  Second  Book  of  Kings,  iii.  27,  we  read  that  the 
king  of  Moab,  when  he  saw  that  the  battle  was  too  sore  for 
him,  and  that  he  could  not  cut  his  way  through  the  besieg- 
ing army,  took  his  eldest  son  that  should  have  reigned  in 
his  stead,  and  offered  him  for  a  burnt-offering  upon  the  wall. 
And  Grotefend  has  deciphered  an  inscription  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar which  contains  the  record  of  his  offer  to  let  his  son 
be  burned  to  death  in  order  to  ward  off  the  afflictions  of 
Babylon.  Were  not  these,  like  the  unconscious  prophecy 
of  Oaiaphas,  the  blind  groping  and  groaning  of  a  fallen  race 
after  the  alone  perfect  sacrifice  that  could  avail  with  God  ? 

Upon  the  walls  of  the  palace  of  Khorsabad,  excavated  by 
the  French,  are  to  be  read  the  annals  of  the  reign  of  Sargon, 
or  Shalmaneser,  both  of  which  titles  are  given  in  the  in- 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  403 

scriptions.  In  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  it  is  said,  he  came 
up  against  the  city  of  Samaria  (called  Samarini),  and  the 
tribes  of  the  country  of  Beth  Homri  (or  Omri),  being  the 
name  of  the  founder  of  Samaria.  (1  Kings  xvii.  16,  seq.) 
He  carried  off  into  captivity  in  Assyria  27,280  families,  and 
settled  in  their  places  colonists  brought  from  Babylonia ; 
appointing  prefects  to  administer  the  country,  and  imposing 
the  same  tribute  which  had  been  paid  to  former  kings. 

In  the  second  year  of  Shalmaneser's  reign,  he  is  stated 
to  have  subdued  Libnah  and  Kahzitah  (the  Cadytis  of  He- 
rodotus), dependencies  of  Egypt ;  and  in  the  seventh  year 
of  his  reign  he  received  tribute  direct  from  the  king  of  that 
country,  who  is  named  Pirhu,  probably  for  "  Pharaoh,"  the 
title  by  which  the  kings  of  Egypt  were  known  to  the  Jews 
and  other  Semitic  nations.  This  punishment  of  the  Egyp- 
tians by  Sargon  or  Shalmaneser,  is  alluded  to  in  the  twen- 
tieth chapter  of  Isaiah. 

Among  the  other  exploits  of  Shalmaneser  found  in  his 
annals  are,  the  conquest  of  Ashdod,  also  alluded  to  in  Isaiah 
xxi.  1 ;  and  his  reduction  of  the  neighboring  city  of  Jumnai, 
called  Jabneh,  or  Jamneh,  in  the  Bible. 

The  entire  annals  of  Shalmaneser  have  not  yet  been  dis- 
covered ;  but  a  tablet  erected  by  him  towards  the  close  of 
his  reign  in  the  palace  at  Nimroud,  in  which  he  claims  to 
be  the  conqueror  of  Judaea,  Colonel  Rawlinson  thinks  refers 
to  the  expedition  in  which,  after  a  three  years'  siege  of  Sa- 
maria, he  carried  off  the  great  body  of  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
and  which  is  commemorated  in  the  Bible  as  having  occur- 
red in  the  sixth  year  of  Hezekiab. 

But  yet  more  striking  coincidences  are  found  in  the 
annals  of  the  son  of  Shalmaneser,  Sennacherib.  He  com- 
menced his  career  by  subjugating  the  Babylonians  under 
their  king  Merodach  Baladan,  who  had  also  been  the  an- 
tagonist of  his  father.  This  is  a  confirmation  of  Scripture, 
but  the  most  important  points  of  agreement  are  found  in 


404  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

the  annals  of  his  third  year.  Let  us  compare  their  disclosures 
with  the  Bible.  In  2  Kings,  chap,  xviii.,  we  read  that  Heze- 
kiahsent  an  embassy  to  Sennacherib,  the  king  of  Assyria,  at 
Lachish,  and  from  the  subsequent  statements  we  infer  that 
Lachish  was  taken  and  destroyed.  What  say  the  inscrip- 
tions ?  In  the  palace  at  Kouyunjik  a  beautiful  and  highly 
finished  bas-relief  has  been  found,  representing  the  siege 
and  capture  by  the  Assyrians  of  a  city  of  great  extent  and 
importance.  The  sculptures  tell  the  whole  story  of  the  at- 
tack, the  conquest,  and  the  entire  destruction  of  the  enemy. 
The  captives,  as  they  appear  in  the  bas-reliefs,  have  been 
stripped  of  their  ornaments  and  fine  raiment,  are  barefoot- 
ed and  half  clothed.  But  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  the 
race  to  which  they  belong.  They  are  Jews ;  for  the  stamp 
is  on  the  countenance  as  it  is  impressed  on  the  features  of 
their  descendants  at  this  very  hour.  The  Assyrian  sculp- 
tor has  noted  the  characteristic  lines,  and  drawn  them  with 
surprising  truth.  To  what  city  they  belong  we  likewise 
know,  for  above  the  figure  of  the  king,  who  commands  in 
person,  it  is  declared,  that  Sennacherib  the  mighty  king,  the 
king  of  Assyria,  sitting  on  the  throne  of  judgment  before 
the  city  of  Lachish,  gives  permission  for  its  slaughter. 

The  inspired  record  says,  that  Sennacherib  came  up 
against  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah  and  took  them  (2  Kings 
xviii.  13),  and  that  when  Hezekiah  offered  to  purchase  a 
peace,  the  invader  exacted  from  him  300  talents  of  silver 
and  30  of  gold.  This,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  was  the 
sum  originally  demanded,  not  from  all  the  towns,  but  from 
Hezekiah  and  Jerusalem  alone.  The  writer  does  not  go  on 
to  specify  the  sum  which  Hezekiah  actually  gave,  but  only 
that  he  gave  all  the  silver  which  was  found  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord  and  in  the  royal  treasury.  He  also  "  cut  off  all 
the  gold  from  the  doors  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and 
from  the  pillars  which  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  overlaid," 
but  nowhere  does  he  tell  us  of  the  amount  that  was  thus 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  405 

procured  and  given  to  the  Assyrian.  Scripture  also  in- 
forms us  how  Sennacherib  took  advantage  of  this  submis- 
sive spirit  of  Hezekiah,  and  after  repeated  insulting  mes- 
sages and  threats,  advanced  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
But  Hezekiah,  we  are  told,  trusted  in  God,  and  in  answer 
to  his  prayer  the  Lord  slew  185,000  of  the  invaders  in  a 
single  night,  so  that  the  king  of  Assyria  returned  to  Nine- 
veh without  inflicting  further  injury  upon  the  holy  city. 

Of  the  terrible  blow  which  thus  arrested  his  designs,  we 
could  scarcely  expect  to  find  any  mention  in  the  grandilo- 
quent annals  of  an  Oriental  monarch.  But  he  says,  accord- 
ing to  the  inscriptions,  "  Because  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah 
did  not  submit  to  my  yoke,  forty-six  of  his  strong  fenced 
cities  and  innumerable  smaller  towns  which  depended  on 
them  I  took  and  plundered,  but  I  left  to  him  Jerusalem  his 
capital  city,  and  the  inferior  towns  around  it," — a  very  sig- 
nificant admission  in  view  of  the  Scripture  reason  for  his 
retreat, — "  and  because  Hezekiah  refused  still  to  do  me 
homage,  I  attacked  and  carried  off  the  whole  population, 
fixed  and  nomade,  which  dwelt  around  Jerusalem,  with  thirty 
talents  of  gold  and  eight  hundred  talents  of  silver,  the  treas- 
ures 'of  Hezekiah's  palace,  besides  his  sons  and  his  daugh- 
ters, and  his  male  or  female  servants  or  slaves ;  I  returned  to 
Nineveh,  and  I  accounted  their  spoil  for  the  tribute  which 
he  refused  to  pay  me."  The  apparent  discrepancy  in  the 
amount  of  silver  here  mentioned  being  a  larger  sum  than 
that  stated  in  the  Bible,  finds  its  ready  explanation  in  the 
circumstance  that,  while  the  Bible  merely  states  what  was 
demanded  of  Hezekiah,  the  inscription  states  the  whole 
amount  carried  off,  which  of  course  would  include  a  great 
deal  more.  The  amount  of  gold  being  the  same  in  both  ac- 
counts is  an  "  historic  coincidence,"  which  Dr.  Layard  justly 
claims  to  be  "  one  of  the  most  remarkable  coincidences  of 
historic  testimony  on  record." 

Another  discovery  connected  with  the  history  of  Sen- 


406  TESTIMCXNT   OP   SCIENCE   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

nacherib  is  perhaps  even  more  remarkable.  In  a  passage 
in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Kouyunjik  palace,  Dr.  Lay- 
ard  stumbled  upon  a  large  piece  of  fine  clay,  bearing  the 
impression  of  seals,  which  there  can  be  no  doubt  had  been 
affixed,  like  modern  official  seals  of  wax,  to  documents 
written  on  leather  or  parchment.  The  writings  themselves 
have  of  course  decayed,  but,  curiously  enough,  the  holes 
for  the  string  by  which  the  seal  was  fastened  are  still  visi- 
ble ;  and  in  some  instances  the  ashes  of  string  itself  may  be 
seen,  together  with  the  unmistakable  marks  of  finger  and 
thumb.  Four  of  these  seals  are  purely  Egyptian.  Two  of 
them  are  impressions  of  a  royal  signet.  "  It  is,"  says  Dr. 
Layard,  "  one  well  known  to  Egyptian  scholars  as  that  of 
the  second  Sabaco,  the  Ethiopian,  of  the  25th  dynasty. 
On  the  same  piece  of  clay  is  impressed  an  Assyrian  seal, 
with  a  device  representing  a  priest  ministering  before  the 
king,  probably  a  royal  signet." 

Of  the  mystery  here  involved,  Scripture  supplies  the 
following  solution. 

Hoshea,  king  of  Israel,  made  a  treaty  with  So,  king  of 
Egypt,  to  help  him  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Shalmaneser, 
king  of  Assyria  ;  but  the  result  was  an  Assyrian  invasion  and 
the  first  great  captivity  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  This  So, 
or  Sabaco  II.,  was  succeeded  by  Tirhakah  in  Egypt,  and 
Shalmaneser  in  Assyria  by  Sennacherib,  and  hostilities  ex- 
isted during  both  reigns.  (2  Kings  xix.  9.)  It  would  seem 
that,  a  peace  having  been  concluded  between  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Assyrians,  the  signets  of  the  two  kings  thus  found 
together  were  attached  to  the  treaty,  which  was  deposited 
among  the  archives  of  the  kingdom. 

The  document  itself  and  the  cord  by  which  it  was  at- 
tached to  the  seal,  have  long  since  turned  to  dust ;  but  the 
seal,  with  its  double  impress,  though  buried  for  ages,  has 
come  to  light  and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum.  The  two 
kings  affixed  their  seals  to  a  document  which  has  perished 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVEEIES.  40 7 

like  themselves ;  but  in  their  act  the  hand  of  the  Most 
High  affixed  an  additional  seal  to  his  Holy  Word,  which  is 
true  and  abideth  forever. 

The  annals  of  Ezar-haddon,  the  son  of  Sennacherib, 
have  also  been  found  in  a  tolerably  perfect  state.  They 
are  written  upon  a  cylinder  now  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  contain  an  account  of  a  further  deportation  of  Israel- 
ites from  Palestine,  and  a  further  settlement  of  Babylonian 
colonists  in  their  place.  This  statement  affords  an  explana- 
tion of  a  passage  in  Ezra  (iv.  2),  in  which  the  Samari- 
tans speak  of  Ezar-haddon  as  the  king  by  whom  they  had 
been  transplanted. 

Another  corroboration  of  Scripture  furnished  by  these 
discoveries,  has  reference  to  the  account  in  Daniel  (iv.) 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  driven  from  among  men  and  dwelling 
for^i  season  with  the  beasts  of  the  field.  An  inscription 
now  in  the  East  India  House  at  London,  according  to  Col. 
Rawlinson,  describes  the  various  works  of  that  monarch 
at  Babylon  and  Borsippa.  The  enumeration  is  doubtless 
the  counterpart  of  that  expression,  "  Is  not  this  great 
Babylon  which  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  my  king- 
dom, by  the  might  of  my  power  and  for  the  honor  of  my 
majesty?"  In  the  midst  of  the  list  occurs  a  remarkable 
passage  which  the  decipherer  could  not  but  regard  as  the 
official  version  of  that  terrible  calamity. 

Abruptly  breaking  off  from  the  account  of  the  archi- 
tectural decoration  of  Babylon,  it  denounces  the  Chaldean 
astrologers.  It  says  "  the  king's  heart  was  hardened 
against  them.  He  would  grant.no  benefactions  for  relig- 
ious purposes.  He  intermitted  the  worship  of  Merodach, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  sacrifice  of  victims.  He  labored 
under  the  effects  of  enchantment."  There  is  much  more 
that  is  obscure  in  this  episode,  and  at  its  close  the  archi- 
tectural narrative  is  abruptly  resumed.  But  how  much 
clearer  a  narrative  of  that  awful  visitation  could  we  expect 
from  Nebuchadnezzar  ? 


408  TESTIMONY    OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

The  more  light  that  is  thrown  from  researches  in  these 
monumental  records  upon  the  historic  statements  of  Scrip- 
ture, the  more  authentic  and  matter-of-fact  are  they  made 
to  appear.  It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  the 
mine  thus  opened  to  the  biblical  student.  "  Perhaps  the 
time  may  come,"  says  Mr.  Rawlinson,  "  when  through  the 
recovery  of  the  complete  annals  of  Egypt,  Assyria  and 
Babylon,  we  may  obtain  for  the  whole  of  the  Sacred  History 
that  sort  of  illustration,  which  is  now  confined  to  certain 
portions  of  it.  God,  who  disposes  all  things  l  after  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will,'  and  who  has  given  to  the  present 
age  such  treasures  of  long  buried  knowledge,  may  have 
yet  greater  things  in  store  for  us,  to  be  brought  to  light 
at  His  own  good  time." 

In  the  utter  ruin  and  desolation  which  have  overtaken 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  we  have  additional  evidence  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  is  truth.  The  calcined  alabaster 
and  charred  cedar  of  the  Assyrian  palaces  (Khorsabad 
and  Nimroud)  bear  witness  that  the  prophetic  denuncia- 
tion against  them  was  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter — that  not 
only  the  flooding  river  and  the  destroying  sword,  but  "  the 
devouring  fire  "  was  made  an  instrument  whereby  "  the  re- 
joicing city  that  dwelt  carelessly  was  made  a  desolation,  a 
place  for  beasts  to  lie  down."  "  She  is  empty  and  void  and 
waste."  (Nahum  ii.  9,  10.)  "Neither  Botta  nor  Layard 
found  any  of  that  store  of  silver  and  gold  and  '  pleasant 
furniture  '  which  the  palaces  contained ;  scarcely  anything, 
even  of  bronze,  escaped  the  spoiler,  but  he  unconsciously 
left  what  is  still  more  valuable ;  for  to  the  falling  in  of  the 
roofs  of  the  buildings,  by  his  setting  fire  to  the  columns  and 
beams  that  supported  them,  and  his  subsequent  destruction 
of  the  walls,  we  are  indebted  for  the  extraordinary  preser- 
vation of  the  sculptures."  A  like  testimony  to  the  "  sure 
word  of  prophecy  "  comes  from  the  shapeless  heaps  of  rub* 
bish  which  mark  the  site  where  once  stood  "  the  lady  of 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  409 

kingdoms,"  "  the  glory  of  the  Chaldees*  excellency."  In 
her  fate  the  seemingly  opposite  declarations  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (li.  42,  43)  have  both  been  exactly  accomplished. 
"  The  sea  is  come  upon  Babylon,"  while  she  is  also  "  a 
desolation,  a  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness."  "From  the 
summit  of  the  Birs  Nimrod,"  says  Dr.  Layard,  "  I  gazed 
over  a  vast  marsh,  for  Babylon  is  made  '  a  possession  for 
the  bittern  and  pools  of  water.'  In  the  midst  of  the  swamps 
could  be  faintly  distinguished  the  mat  huts  of  the  Kazail, 
forming  villages  on  the  small  islands.  The  green  morass 
was  spotted  with  herds  of  the  black  buffalo.  Light  boats 
were  skimming  to  and  fro  over  the  shallow  water." 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  region  around  these  fallen 
seats  of  ruined  empire,  as  in  the  case  of  Syria,  the  same 
unchanging  frame-work  of  oriental  life,  its  manners  and 
customs,  still  exists,  as  when  the  Bible  was  written.  There 
are  still  the  lodges  in  the  cucumber  gardens  which  Isaiah 
describes ;  the  oxen  still  tread  out  the  corn ;  the  vessels 
of  bulrushes  may  still  be  seen ;  and  the  wild  asses  of  the 
desert  so  poetically  alluded  to  by  Job,  still  watch  the  trav- 
eller from  the  distance,  pause  for  him  to  draw  near,  and 
then  gallop  away  to  the  shadowy  horizon.  The  hot,  stifling 
breath  of  the  easterly  wind  or  sherki,  from  which  Jonah  so 
grievously  suffered,  is  still  found  singularly  relaxing  and 
dispiriting.  Though  three  thousand  years  have  passed 
away,  the  very  scenes  of  the  Old  Testament  are  here  faith- 
fully reproduced,  while,  as  if  to  confound  the  folly  of  modern 
scepticism,  the  famous  capitals  which  were  the  seats  of 
mighty  kings,  "  when  Egypt  with  Assyria  strove  in  wealth 
and  luxury,"  have  been  summoned  from  their  graves. 
"  The  stone  hath  cried  out  of  the  wall,  and  the  beam  out 
of  the  timber  hath  answered  it." 


18 


CHAPTEE   XII. 

ARCHJEOLOGICAL    DISCOVERIES — NEW  TESTAMENT. 

Bur  the  aim  of  the  rationalistic  school  is  not  merely  to 
destroy  the  historical  character  of  the  Old  Testament.  In 
the  hands  of  Strauss,  as  has  been  already  noticed,  and  of 
writers  who  have  followed  him,  the  New  Testament  also 
has  been  idealized.  The  incarnation  of  our  Lord,  His  de- 
scent from  David,  the  circumstances  of  His  nativity,  His 
temptation,  transfiguration,  His  most  remarkable  miracles, 
including  those  attested  by  all  the  Evangelists, — all  become 
mere  myths,  and  never  possessed  an  historical  existence. 
The  fact  of  His  death  is  accepted,  but  His  resurrection  is  a 
mere  vision  due  to  the  excited  imagination  of  His  followers. 
And  that  death — how  different  the  view  in  which  the  ideolo- 
gists regard  it,  from  that  which  brings  heavenly  peace  and 
immortal  hope  to  the  soul  of  the  believer !  "  The  blood 
of  sprinkling,  the  Cross  of  Calvary,  the  pierced  hands,  the 
wounded  side — these  have  vanished  from  their  eyes ;  they 
may  suit  inferior  minds,  incapable  of  supporting  the  clear 
atmosphere  and  unimpeded  vision  into  which  they  think 
themselves  to  have  entered." 1  They  would  have  a  Chris- 
tianity without  Christ. 

Yet  the  internal  evidence  of  the  New  Testament  His- 
tory alone  could  extort  from  the  infidel  Rousseau  such  a 
confession  as  the  following :  "  If  this  be  a  fiction,  the  in- 
ventor is  yet  more  wondrous  than  the  hero  of  the  narra- 
tive." If  there  were  no  other  proof  of  the  reality  of  the 
*  Bishop  Wilberforce. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  411 

Gospel  history  than  the  character  which  the  four  Evangel- 
ists have  ascribed  to  Christ,  that  alone  would  furnish  evi- 
dence beyond  all  cavil  and  doubt. 

"  The  brightness  of  the  brightest  names,"  says  a  great 
writer,  "  pales  and  wanes  before  the  radiance  which  shines 
from  the  person  of  Christ.  The  scenes  at  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus,  at  the  gate  of  Nain,  in  the  happy  family  at 
Bethany,  in  the  upper  room,  where  He  instituted  the  beau- 
tiful feast  which  should  forever  consecrate  His  memory, 
and  bequeathed  to  His  disciples  the  legacy  of  His  love  ;  the 
scenes  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  on  the  summit  of  Cal- 
vary and  at  the  sepulchre  ;  the  sweet  remembrance  of  the 
patience  with  which  He  bore  wrong,  the  gentleness  with 
which  He  rebuked  it,  and  the  love  with  which  He  forgave 
it ;  the  thousand  acts  of  benign  condescension  by  which  He 
well  earned  for  Himself,  from  self-righteous  pride  and  cen- 
sorious hypocrisy,  the  name  of ;  the  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners ; '  these  and  a  hundred  things  more  which  crowd 
those  concise  memorials  of  love  and  sorrow  with  such  prod- 
igality of  beauty  and  pathos,  will  still  continue  to  charm 
and  attract  the  soul  of  humanity,  and  on  these  the  highest 
genius  as  well  as  the  humblest  mediocrity  will  love  to 
dwell.  These  things  lisping  infancy  loves  to  hear  on  its 
mother's  knee,  and  over  them  age,  with  its  gray  locks, 
bends  in  devoutest  reverence.  No ;  before  the  infidel  can 
prevent  the  influence  of  these  compositions,  he  must  get 
rid  of  the  Gospels  themselves,  or  he  must  supplant  them  by 
fictions  far  more  wonderful !  Ah !  what  bitter  irony  has 
involuntarily  escaped  me !  But  if  the  last  be  impossible,  at 
least  the  Gospels  must  cease  to  exist  before  Infidelity  can 
succeed.  Yes,  before  Infidels  can  prevent  men  from  think- 
ing as  they  ever  have  done  of  Christ,  they  must  blot  out 
the  gentle  words  with  which,  in  the  presence  of  austere 
hypocrisy,  the  Saviour  welcomed  that  timid  guilt  that  could 
only  express  its  silent  love  in  an  agony  of  tears ;  they  must 


412  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE  TO  THE  BIBLE. 

blot  out  the  words  addressed  to  the  dying  penitent,  who, 
softened  by  the  majestic  patience  of  the  mighty  sufferer, 
detected  at  last  the  monarch  under  the  veil  of  sorrow,  and 
cast  an  imploring  glance  to  be  '  remembered  by  Him  when 
He  came  into  His  kingdom;'  they  must  blot  out  the 
scenes  in  which  the  demoniacs,  or  the  maniacs,  if  the  infidel 
will,  for  it  does  not  help  him — sat  listening  at  His  feet  and 
4  in  their  right  mind  ; '  they  must  blot  out  the  remembrance 
of  the  tears  which  He  shed  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  not 
surely  for  him  whom  He  was  about  to  raise,  but  in  pure 
sympathy  with  the  sorrows  of  humanity,  for  the  myriad 
myriads  of  desolate  mourners,  who  could  not  with  Mary  fly 
to  Him  and  say,  c  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  mother 
— brother — sister — had  not  died ! '  They  must  blot  out 
the  record  of  those  miracles  which  charm  us  not  only  as 
the  proofs  of  His  mission  and  guarantees  of  the  truth  of 
His  doctrine,  but  as  they  illustrate  the  benevolence  of  His 
character,  and  are  types  of  the  spiritual  cures  His  Gospel 
can  yet  perform ;  they  must  blot  out  the  scenes  of  the  sep- 
ulchre, where  love  and  veneration  lingered,  and  saw  what 
has  never  been  before,  but  shall  henceforth  be  seen  till  the 
end  of  time, — the  tomb  itself  irradiated  with  angelic  forms 
and  bright  with  the  presence  of  Him  '  who  brought  life  and 
immortality  to  light ; '  they  must  blot  out  the  scenes  where 
deep  and  grateful  love  wept  so  passionately,  and  found 
them  unbidden  at  her  side, — type  of  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand,  who  have  ;  sought  the  grave  to  weep  there,'  and 
found  joy  and  consolation  in  Him  '  whom  though  unseen 
they  loved  ; ' — they  must  blot  out  the  discourses  in  which 
He  took  leave  of  His  disciples,  the  majestic  accents  of 
which  have  filled  so  many  departing  souls  with  patience  and 
with  triumph ;  they  must  blot  out  the  yet  sublimer  words 
in  which  He  declares  Himself  *  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life' — words  which  have  led  so  many  millions  more  to 
breathe  out  their  spirits  with  child-like  trust,  and  to  be- 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  413 

lieve,  as  the  gate  of  death  closed  behind  them,  they  would 
see  Him  who  is  invested  with  '  the  keys  of  the  invisible 
world,'  *  who  opens  and  no  man  shuts,  who  shuts  and  no 
man  opens,'  letting  in  through  the  portal  which  leads  to 
immortality  '  the  radiance  of  the  skies ; '  they  must  blot  out, 
they  must  destroy  these  and  a  thousand  other  such  things, 
before  they  can  prevent  Him  from  having  the  pre-eminence 
who  loved,  because  He  loved  us,  to  call  Himself  the  '  Son 
of  Man,'  though  angels  called  Him  the  'Son  of  God!' »  l 

If  all  this  be  mythical,  whence,  let  us  ask,  did  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ  draw  the  conception  of  the  character  of  their 
Master  ?  "  It  is  a  character  so  transcendently  original  in 
its  mere  conception,  so  thoroughly  and  profoundly  consist- 
ent in  its  working  out,  so  remarkable  for  its  combination 
of  seemingly  opposite  traits — so  full  of  a  mingled  majesty 
and  loveliness,  firmness  and  gentleness,  candor  and  reserve, 
and  so  radically  free  from  every  morbid  tendency  or  sen- 
timent, from  fanaticism,  pride,  impetuosity,  weakness,  or 
one-sidedness  of  any  kind,  that,  if  not  drawn  from  the  life, 
it  is  the  most  stupendous  and  wonderful  piece  of  art  that 
was  ever  exhibited  by  the  human  mind.  We  may  search 
the  records  of  ancient  and  modern  literature  in  vain  to  find 
anything  like  it."  "  It  is  related  of  a  celebrated  Grecian 
sculptor,  that  he  searched  all  Greece  with  the  view  of 
modelling  a  perfect  figure,  and  he  borrowed  here  from  the 
most  beautiful  a  feature,  and  there  from  the  most  graceful 
a  limb ;  but  after  all  the  patchwork  was  apparent ;  he  could 
not  so  harmonize  the  different  lineaments  and  members  as 
to  give  congruity  and  symmetry  to  the  whole ;  and  just  so 
the  attempt  to  construct  a  perfect  character  out  of  virtues 
borrowed  from  all  the  best  of  human  kind  has  ever  failed, 
because  men  cannot  combine,  and  adjust,  and  harmonize 
the  material!.  Under  these  circumstances,  in  the  face  of 
difficulties  so  insuperable,  how  could  it  have  entered  into 
1  Defence  of  the  Eclipse  of  Faith  by  Rev.  Henry  Rogers. 


414  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

the  minds  of  a  few  Jewish  fishermen,  without  education, 
without  advantages  of  refinement  or  taste — men  brought 
up  in  prejudice  and  bigotry — how  could  it  have  entered 
into  their  minds  to  conceive  the  idea  of  drawing,  or,  con- 
ceiving it,  what  possibility  was  there  of  their  being  able  to 
draw  a  faultless  character  ?  And  yet  these  fishermen  of 
Galilee  not  xmly  conceived,  but  realized  the  idea ;  they 
painted  one  of  whom  we  may  say,  '  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God ; '  '  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot.'  '  Be- 
hold the  nym ! » « holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from 
sinners. ' "  *  Surely  there  must  have  been  a  living  model 
from  which  they  drew.  Truly  says  Neander,  "  As  man's 
limited  intellect  could  never,  without  the  aid  of  God's  rev- 
elation of  Himself  to  the  spirit  of  man,  have  originated  the 
idea  of  God,  so  the  image  of  Christ  could  never  have  sprung 
from  the  consciousness  of  sinful  humanity,  but  must  be 
regarded  as  the  reflection  of  the  actual  life  of  such  a  Christ. 
It  is  Christ's  self-revelation,  made,  through  all  generations, 
in  the  fragments  of  His  history  that  remain,  and  hi  the 
workings  of  His  Spirit  which  inspires  these  fragments,  and 
enables  us  to  recognize  in  them  one  complete  whole." a 

What  honest  and  candid  mind  can  avoid  the  conviction 
that  if  the  Gospel  narrative  be  a  fiction,  then  is  all  history 
a  fiction  ? 

But  in  its  behalf  also,  "truth  has  sprung  out  of  the 
earth."  While  the  historic  verity  of  the  Old  Testament 
has  been  vindicated  by  exhumed  remains  of  long  lost  cities 
in  the  depths  of  Asia,  fresh  confirmations  of  the  historic 
character  of  the  New  have  been  brought  to  light  from  be- 
neath the  foundations  of  the  old  seven  hilled  city  of  the 


So  crowded  is  Rome  with  the  treasured  relics  of  the 
Past — so  manifold  the  attractions  of  her  temples,  palaces 
and  galleries  of  art — that  few  comparatively  of  those  that 
i  Rev.  H.  Stowell.  a  Life  of  Christ,  p.  6. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  415 

visit  the  Eternal  City,  bestow  a  thought  upon  the  far  more 
marvellous  antiquities  which  lie  beneath  the  streets  they 
daily  tread  or  under  the  majestic  buildings  whose  objects 
of  interest  they  eagerly  explore. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  Rome  is  undermined  by 
subterranean  excavations,  but  very  indefinite  views  pre- 
vailed as  to  their  extent  and  the  ancient  memorials  which 
they  concealed.  Recent  explorations  have  ascertained  that 
they  form  a  network  beneath  Rome  and  the  Campagna  of 
nearly  nine  hundred  miles  in  extent,  their  narrow  chambers 
in  some  parts  rising  in  stories  one  above  another,  and  that 
they  formed  a  refuge  and  burial  place  for  Christians  during 
the  persecutions  of  the  first  three  centuries. 

Evidence  of  the  highest  value  in  establishing  the  his- 
torical character  of  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament,  has 
been  thence  obtained.  The  following  summary  has  been 
derived  from  the  valuable  Bampton  lectures  of  Mr.  Raw- 
linson,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  discoveries  admit  of  no 
other  inference  than  that  in  the  first,  second  and  third  cen- 
turies, the  facts  of  the  New  Testament  were  accepted  as 
historical  verities,  and  hence  that  there  was  no  possible 
period  when  myths  could  have  arisen. 

Following  out  in  detail  the  evidence  of  the  Catacombs, 
Mr.  Rawlinson  holds  it  to  be  in  the  first  place  conclusive  as 
to  the  vast  numbers  of  Christians  in  the  early  ages — ages 
when  there  was  nothing  to  tempt  men,  and  everything  to 
disincline  them,  towards  embracing  the  persecuted  faith. 
The  calculation  that  the  Catacombs  contain  seven  millions 
of  graves  would  imply,  for  the  four  hundred  years  they 
were  in  use,  an  average  population  of  from  500,000  to 
700,000, — an  amount  immeasurably  beyond  any  estimate 
that  has  hitherto  been  made  of  Roman  Christians  at  any 
portion  of  the  period.  Allowing  the  calculation  of  the 
number  of  graves  to  be  somewhat  exaggerated,  and  the 
proportion  of  deaths  to  the  population  under  the  circum- 


416  TESTIMONY   OF   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

stances  to  be  unusually  large,  still  the  evidence  cf  vast 
numbers  which  the  Catacombs  furnish  cannot  wholly  mis- 
lead. They  establish,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  that  in 
spite  of  the  general  contempt  and  hatred,  in  spite  of  the 
constant  ill  usage  to  which  they  were  exposed,  and  the  oc- 
casional fiery  trials  which  proved  them,  the  Christians,  as 
early  as  the  second  century,  formed  one  of  the  chief  ele- 
ments in  the  population  of  Rome. 

Secondly,  he  holds  that  the  Catacombs  afford  conclusive 
proof  of  the  dangers  and  sufferings  to  which  the  early 
Christians  were  exposed.  Without  assuming  that  the  phi- 
als which  have  contained  a  red  liquid,  found  in  so  many  of 
the  tombs,  must  have  held  blood,  and  that  therefore  they 
are  certain  signs  of  martyrdom,  and  without  regarding  the 
palm  branch  as  an  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  same,  the 
Catacombs  yet  furnish  evidence  confirmatory  of  those 
writers  who  estimate  at  the  highest  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians who  suffered  death  in  the  great  persecutions.  The 
number  of  graves  taken  at  the  lowest,  compared  with  the 
highest  estimate  of  the  Christian  population  that  is  at  all 
probable,  would  give  a  proportion  of  deaths  to  population 
enormously  above  the  average, — a  result  which  at  any  rate 
lends  support  to  those  who  assert  that  in  the  persecutions 
of  Aurelius,  Decius,  Diocletian,  and  others,  vast  multitudes 
of  Christians  were  massacred.  Further,  the  word  martyr 
is  frequent  upon  the  tombs ;  and  often,  when  it  is  absent, 
the  inscription  otherwise  shows  that  the  deceased  lost  his 
life  on  account  of  his  religion,  and  op'ens  to  us,  besides  the 
individual  buried,  a  long  vista  of  similar  sufferers — as  when 
one  of  Aurelius'  victims  exclaims — "  O  unhappy  times,  in 
which  amid  our  sacred  rites  and  prayers, — in  the  very  cavr 
ei<nS} — we  are  not  safe !  What  is  more  wretched  than  our 
life  ?  What  more  wretched  than  a  death,  when  it  is  im- 
possible to  obtain  burial  at  the  hands  of  friends  or  rela- 
tives? Still  at  the  end  they  shine  like  stars  in  Heaven. 
A  poor  life  is  his  who  has  lived  in  Christian  times ! " 


ARCHJSOLOGICAL  DISCOVERIES.  417 

Thirdly,  he  holds  that  the  Catacombs  furnish  a  certain 
amount  of  evidence  with  respect  to  the  belief  of  the  early 
Christians.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  implied  or 
expressed  on  almost  every  tombstone  which  has  been  dis- 
covered. The  Christian  is  not  dead — he  "rests"  or 
"  sleeps ; "  he  is  not  buried,  but  "  deposited"  in  his  grave ; 
and  he  is  always  at  peace  (in  pace).  The  survivors  do  not 
mourn  his  loss  despairingly,  but  express  trust,  resignation, 
moderate  grief.  The  anchor,  indicative  of  the  Christian's 
sure  and  certain  hope,  is  a  common  emblem  ;  and  the  phoe- 
nix and  peacock  are  used  as  more  speaking  signs  of  the 
resurrection.  The  cross  appears,  though  not  the  crucifix ; 
and  other  emblems  are  employed,  as  the  dove  and  the 
cock,  which  indicate  belief  in  the  sacred  narrative  as  we 
possess  it.  There  are  also  a  certain  number  of  pictures  in 
the  Catacombs,  and  these  represent  ordinarily,  historical 
scenes  from  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  treated  in  a  uni- 
form and  conventional  way,  but  clearly  expressive  of  belief 
in  the  facts  thus  represented.  The  temptation  of  Eve, 
Moses  striking  the  rock,  Noah  welcoming  the  return  of 
the  dove,  Elijah  ascending  to  heaven,  Daniel  among  the 
lions,  &c.,  are  the  favorite  subjects  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  while  from  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  adora- 
tion of  the  wise  men,  the  interview  with  Herod,  the  bap- 
tism of  Christ  by  John  the  Baptist,  the  healing  of  the 
paralytic,  the  turning  of  the  water  into  wine,  the  feeding 
of  the  five  thousand,  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  Last  Sup- 
per, and  many  other  miracles  and  facts  of  Gospel  History. 
These  early  artists  never  tire  of  repeating  the  type  of 
"the  Good  Shepherd,"  and  ofttimes  the  sower  appears  go- 
ing forth  to  sow,  and  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins  with  their 
lamps.  Thus  from  these  ancient  and  long  hidden  sepul- 
chral remains,  we  derive  indisputable  evidence  that  the  his- 
toric belief  of  the  early  Church  was  identical  with  that  of 
orthodox  Christendom  at  the  present  day. 
18* 


418  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE  TO   THE   BIBLE. 

Still  more  recently,  a  remarkable  discovery  has  been 
made  in  Rome,  affording  another  striking  confirmation  of 
the  truth  of  Revelation.  The  following  account  of  it  is 
from  an  article  in  a  late  number  of  the  Edinburgh  Review 
on  what  are  technically  called  the  graffiti  of  Pompeii. 
These  graffiti  are  the  writings  upon  the  street  corners  and 
places  of  public  resort,  which  are  now  disclosed  to  the 
world,  and  throw  great  light  upon  the  habits,  tastes  and 
manners  of  the  ancients.  The  reviewer  says  : 

"  Mention  has  been  made  more  than  once  of  graffiti 
lately  discovered  in  other  localities,  and  especially  at  Rome. 
Of  these,  the  most  important  have  been  found  in  the  sub- 
struction of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  recently  excavated. 
It  would  carry  us  entirely  beyond  our  allotted  limits  to  de- 
scribe these  in  detail.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  were  dis- 
covered several  years  since,  and  are  embodied  in  P.  Ga- 
rucci's  general  collection.  But  there  is  one  so  exceedingly 
remarkable,  and  indeed  of  so  deep  and  peculiar  an  interest, 
that  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  pass  it  over. 

"  The  apartment  in  which  it  was  found  is  one  of  several 
(now  subterranean)  chambers  on  the  Palatine,  which,  in  the 
course  of  the  many  alterations  and  extensions  of  plan  during 
the  progress  of  the  building  of  the  palace,  were  dismantled 
and  filled  up  in  order  to  form  substructions  for  a  new  edi- 
fice to  be  erected  on  a  higher  level.  The  light  and  air 
being  effectually  excluded  by  this  process,  the  walls  have 
remained  to'this  day  in  a  state  of  preservation  little  inferior 
to  that  of  the  buildings  of  Pompeii.  The  particular  apart- 
ment in  question  having  been  opened  in  December,  1856, 
some  traces  of  Greek  characters  were  observed  upon  the 
wall ;  and,  on  a  fuller  examination  by  P.  Garucci,  who  was 
attracted  to  the  spot  by  the  news  of  the  discovery,  these 
characters  proved  to  be  an  explanatory  legend  written  be- 
neath a  rude  sketch  upon  the  wall,  in  which  P.  Garucci  at  • 
once  recognized  a  pagan  caricature  of  the  crucifixion  'of 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  419 

our  Lord,  and  of  the  Christians'  worship  of  their  crucified 
God.  This  blasphemous  sketch  represents  a  figure  with 
arm  uplifted  and  outstretched  (as  if  in  the  act  of  kissing 
the  hand,  a  recognized  attitude  of  worship  or  adoration), 
turned  towards  a  cross,  upon  which  is  suspended  a  human 
figure  with  the  head  of  a  horse,  or  perhaps  of  an  onager^ 
or  wild  ass. 

"  If  any  doubt  can  be  entertained  as  to  the  purport  of 
this  sketch,  it  would  be  dispelled  by  the  legend  under- 
neath : 

'ALEXAMINUS  WORSHIPS  GOD.' 

"Who  this  Alexaminus  may  have  been,  and  what  may 
have  been  the  special  occasion  (if,  indeed,  there  were 
any)  of  this  rude  caricature,  it  is  of  course  impossible  now 
to  conjecture.  From  the  name  it  may  be  inferred  that, 
like  a  large  proportion  of  the  Christians  of  Rome  in  the 
early  centuries,  he  was  a  Greek,  and  perhaps  a  slave.  But 
whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  individual  on  whom  it  was 
meant  to  be  a  satire,  the  singular  graffito,  thus  unexpect- 
edly brought  to  light  after  so  many  centuries,  is  at  once  a 
most  interesting  illustration  of  the  struggle  between  the 
Christianity  of  that  early  age  and  its  yet  powerful  and  con- 
temptuous rival,  and  a  literal  verification  of  one  of  the 
most  striking  passages  in  the  'Apology'  of  Tertullian. 
It  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  this  blasphemous  caricature 
is,  in  one  of  its  forms,  the  actual  reality  to  which  Tertullian 
alludes.  It  is  not  alone  that  this  father  defends  himself 
and  his  fellow  Christians  from  the  general  charge  of  having 
an  ass's  head  as  their  God,  and  that  he  retorts  upon  the 
pagans  themselves  their  charge  against  the  Christians  of 
4  being  superstitious  respecting  the  cross,'  by  showing  that 
the  pagans  also  worshipped  the  cross  when  they  erected 
trophies,  or  took  the  military  oaths  upon  their  standards ; 
he  describes  something  closely  resembling  the  very  picture 


420  TESTIMONY   OP   SCIENCE   TO   THE   BIBLE. 

which  we  have  here  before  us  in  this  rude  graffito,  as  a  car- 
icature of  the  Christian  worship  which  was  then  popular 
among  the  pagan  calumniators. 

"We  forbear  to  touch  the  higher  associations  which 
this  strange  discovery  presses  upon  th'e  mind.  But  even 
as  a  purely  historical  monument,  the  most  unimaginative 
reader  will  regard  it  with  the  deepest  interest.  It  opens  to 
us  with  a  distinctness  which  no  written  record  could  sup- 
ply, a  glimpse  into  those  dark  days  of  the  infant  Church, 
while  her  divine  founder  was  still  '  a  folly  to  the  Gentile,' 
and  while  it  was  still  possible  to  present  him  to  the  pop- 
ular mind  of  paganism  under  the  hideous  type  of  folly 
which  is  here  depicted  in  all  its  revolting  coarseness." 

Our  proposed  comparison  of  the  discoveries  of  science 
and  the  results  of  historic  research  and  inquiry  with  the 
statements  of  the  Bible,  has  here  reached  its  termination  ; 
and  we  trust  it  has  been  shown  that  the  Bible  has  stood 
every  test  which  the  refined  scepticism  of  the  present  age 
has  brought  against  it — the  closer  its  claims  have  been 
scrutinized,  the  more  triumphant  has  been  its  vindication. 
Did  infidelity  aspire  to  make  its  home  among  the  stars  ? 
The  glorious  orbs  of  heaven  have  uttered  solemn  harmo- 
nies to  redemption's  anthem.  Driven  from  thence,  did  it 
seek  to  erect  a  fortress  down  in  the  recesses  of  the  earth  ? 
The  rocks  have  uttered  their  testimony  that  the  Author  of 
creation  and  of  revelation  must  be  the  same.  Did  it  then 
strive  to  build  up  an  array  of  proof  that  mankind  was  not 
a  race  of  one  blood  and  one  brotherhood  ?  Physiology 
has  uttered  her  assent  to  the  declaration  of  Scripture  that 
"  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,"  while  other  sciences  have 
yielded  a  confirmatory  testimony.  The  long  successions 
of  Oriental  dynasties — the  calculations  of  eclipses  and 
planetary  conjunctions — the  Egyptian  Zodiacs — with  which 
it  was  sought  to  overthrow  the  Mosaic  account  of  the 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL   DISCOVERIES.  421 

world's  duration,  when  examined  by  the  light  of  true  sci- 
ence, vanished  into  air,  or  rather  went  to  confirm  the  Scrip- 
ture narrative.  And  other  objections  with  which  it  has 
been  sought  to  impugn  its  credibility,  have  been  found  to 
supply  internal  evidence  of  its  truth.  And  when  a  new 
school  of  philosophic  scoffers  has  risen,  who  would  treat 
the  histories  of  the  Bible  as  fables  and  its  narratives  of 
miraculous  occurrences  as  myths,  a  species  of  evidence  has 
been  brought  to  light,  precisely  adapted  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency. Accomplished  travellers  have  traversed  to  and  fro 
through  the  lands  of  the  East,  and  have  returned  to  tell  us 
that  the  Bible  is,  as  it  were,  written  upon  the  scenes  which 
they  have  visited.  The  key  to  the  Coptic  tablets  has  been 
discovered,  and  across  the  gulf  of  forty  centuries,  the  in- 
scriptions have  been  read.  The  gates  of  Mount  Seir  have 
opened  to  disclose  the  rock-built  palaces  of  Edom.  The 
old  cities  of  Bashan  and  Moab  have  been  found  still  stand- 
ing in  massive  greatness  almost  as  they  were  in  the  days  of 
Moses  and  Joshua.  The  mysterious  mounds  by  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  have  been  explored,  and  the  old  palaces  of 
Assyrian  and  Chaldean  monarchs  have  revealed  their  mag- 
nificence and  grandeur.  All  there  are  like  witnesses  sum- 
moned from  the  grave.  Their  evidence  is  contemporane- 
ous with  the  Scriptures,  and  it  cannot  be  gainsayed  or  dis- 
puted. And  what  is  their  testimony?  Wherever  the 
same  points  are  touched,  it  confirms  the  statements  of  the 
sacred  records.  It  is  thus  found  to  the  confusion  of  the 
infidel  that  if  miracles  are  not  now  wrought  to  attest 
the  truth  of  revelation,  yet  illustrations  and  evidences  mar- 
vellous and  manifold  are  laid  up  in  the  earth  around  him, 
and  are  brought  forth  at  the  moment  of  exigency,  to  vin- 
dicati?  the  divinity  of  the  Bible  and  to  shed  new  beauty 
upon  its  hallowed  pages. 


APPENDIX. 

THE  AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS   OF  THE   SACRED 
WRITINGS. 

WERE  the  books  of  Holy  Scripture  the  productions  of 
the  writers  whose  names  they  bear,  and  have  they  come 
down  to  us  in  a  genuine  and  unadulterated  form  ? 

In  the  preceding  pages,  whose  particular  object  it  has 
been  to  vindicate  the  truth  and  authority  of  the  Bible  as  a 
revelation  from  God,  the  affirmative  of  this  question  is 
necessarily  assumed  and  implied.  Its  demonstration  has 
occupied  the  labors  of  numerous  scholars  of  the  highest 
eminence,  who  have  unanswerably  shown  that  the  authen- 
ticity and  genuineness  of  the  inspired  oracles  are  sustained 
by  a  force  and  accumulation  of  evidence  to  which  neither 
the  Commentaries  of  Caesar,  the  JEneid  of  Virgil,  nor  any 
of  the  classical  writings  of  antiquity  can  even  approach. 

As  this  is,  however,  a  fundamental  point,  and  many 
readers  are  probably  unacquainted  with  the  facts  and  argu- 
ments by  which  the  conclusion  is  reached,  it  is  deemed 
proper  to  subjoin  a  brief  sketch  of  the  grounds  upon  which 
the  learned  consider  the  question  as  set  at  rest. 

We  will  first  inquire  how  we  are  to  satisfy  ourselves 
that  we  now  possess  the  canonical  writings  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ? 

Canon  is  a  Greek  word  signifying  rule,  and  is  used  figu- 
ratively of  that  which  governs  or  determines.  As  the  Sa- 
cred Scriptures  were  at  a  very  early  period  carefully  distin- 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS    OF   THE   BIBLE.      423 

guished  from  all  human  writings,  and  as  they  formed  the 
only  rule  of  faith  and  practice  which  Christians  regarded 
as  authoritative  or  safe,  they  were  soon  designated  as  the 
"  canon,"  i.  e.,  the  rule  of  God. 

As  to  the  present  canon  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  is  gen- 
erally admitted  that  its  formation  is  to  be  traced  to  Ezra 
and  the  prophets  who  returned  with  him  to  Babylon.  This 
is  the  uniform  tradition  of  the  Jews,  and  it  is  strengthened 
by  the  fact  that  there  were  no  prophets  after  Malachi,  who 
was  a  contemporary  of  Ezra,  and  consequently  no  authority 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  Josephus,  moreover,  distinctly 
states  that  after  the  time  of  Artaxerxes  (the  age  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah),  there  had  been  no  addition  to  the  Jewish 
sacred  books.  "  Fact  has  shown  what  confidence  we  place 
in  our  writings,  for  although  so  many  ages  have  passed 
away,  no  one  has  dared  to  add  to  them,  nor  to  take  away 
any  thing  from  them,  or  to  make  alterations." 

To  this  collection  of  the  inspired  oracles,  which  were  ar- 
ranged in  three  classes,  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Sa- 
cred "Writings,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  gave 
.their  explicit  sanction.  Our  Saviour  frequently  reproved 
the  Jews  for  disobeying  and  misinterpreting  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  and  adding  their  traditions  thereto,  but  he  never 
charged  them  with  unfaithfulness  or  negligence  in  preserv- 
ing the  sacred  books.  On  the  contrary,  he  often  speaks  of 
the  Scriptures  (that  is,  of  the  Scriptures  as  then  known)  as 
an  infallible  rule  which  could  not  be  broken,  and  from  which 
not  one  jot  or  tittle  should  pass  till  all  should  be  fulfilled. 
To  these  Scriptures  he  ever  refers  as  the  unerring  truth  of 
God.  And  so  also  the  apostle  Paul,  alluding  chiefly,  if  not 
wholly,  to  the  Old  Testament  writings,  says  "  all  Scripture 
is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  and  again  he  speaks  of  them 
as  "the  oracles  of  God"  and  as  "  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  The  testimony  of  the  other  apostles  is  equally 
plain  and  explicit.  One  important  point,  then,  is  establish- 


424  APPENDIX. 

ed  with  the  utmost  certainty :  that  the  volume  of  Scripture 
"which  existed  in  the  time  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  was  un- 
corrupted  by  the  presence  of  any  spurious  works,  and  that 
the  whole  of  it  was  expressly  declared  by  them  to  be  in- 
inspired  and  infallible.  The  question,  then,  becomes  a  mere 
question  of  fact ;  for  if  we  can  ascertain  what  were  the  par- 
ticular books  which  were  at  that  time  received  and  known 
by  the  Jews  as  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  know  with  absolute 
certainty  what  books  constitute  the  inspired  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament.  If  Christ  and  his  apostles  had  given  us 
the  names  of  every  one  of  the  books  then  known  as  parts 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  question  would  at  once  be  set- 
tled. But  this  they  have  not  done.  They  have,  indeed, 
distinctly  quoted  from  several  of  these  books,  and  so  far 
the  evidence  is  complete.  And,  more  than  this,  they  have 
recognized  as  inspired  all  the  works  known  to  the  Jews  of 
their  day  as  "  the  Scriptures  ; "  and  still  more  particularly 
as  "  the  Law,"  "  the  Prophets,"  and  "  the  Psalms."  But  all 
this,  even,  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  to  inform  us  whether  the 
Old  Testament  then  contained  precisely  the  same  books 
that  it  now  does,  and  no  others ;  so  that  the  question  still 
remains,  What  were  the  books  which  all  the  Jews  of  that 
day  received  as  included  in  the  Scriptures  in  the  threefold 
division  which  has  just  been  mentioned  ?  To  ascertain  this 
point,  we  should  naturally  resort,  if  possible,  to  the  testi- 
mony of  some  Jew  then  living,  just  as,  if  we  held  any  doubts 
of  the  orations  of  Cicero  being  rightly  ascribed  to  him,  we 
should  examine  the  pages  of  contemporaneous  history.  In 
Josephus,  the  celebrated  Jewish  historian,  who  was  con- 
temporary with  the  apostles,  we  have  the  witness,  and  find 
the  very  information  which  we  desire.  He  does  not,  in- 
deed, name  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  then  he 
numbers  and  otherwise  so  accurately  describes  them,  that 
there  is  no  room  for  mistake.  "  We  have,"  says  he,  in  his 
first  book  against  Apion, "  only  twenty-two  books  which 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS   OP  THE   BIBLE,      425 

we  hold  to  be  of  divine  origin,  and  which  we  are  bound  to 
believe.  Of  theSe^ye  are  the  books  of  Moses,  which  treat 
of  the  creation  of  the  world,  &c.  From  the  death  of  Moses 
to  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes,  king  of  Persia,  the  Prophets 
who  succeeded  Moses  have  written  in  thirteen  books,  and 
the  remaining  four  books  contain  divine  poems  or  hymns  to 
God,  and  moral  precepts  or  rules  of  life  for  men."  Accord- 
ing to  the  method  of  arrangement  formerly  in  use  among 
the  Jews,  the  twenty-two  books  mentioned  by  Josephus, 
though  numbered  differently,  are,  in  fact,  precisely  the 
same  with  those  of  the  Old  Testament  as  now  received  by 
us.  Shakspeare  or  Blackstone's  Commentaries  is  still  the 
same  work  whether  in  one  or  in  four  volumes ;  and  so  is  the 
Old  Testament  whether  arranged  in  twenty-two  or  in  thirty- 
nine  divisions.  The  whole  argument,  in  a  word,  then,  is  this  : 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  Apostles  expressly  and  repeatedly  de- 
clared that  the  Scriptures,  as  received  by  the  Jews  at  the 
time  when  they  lived,  were  inspired.  Jewish  history  writ- 
ten at  that  very  time  informs  us  what  books  were  then  con- 
tained in  the  Jewish  Scriptures.  These  books,  though  di£ 
ferently  arranged  and  numbered,  are  found,  on  examination, 
to  be  the  very  same  which  are  contained  in  our  English  ver- 
sion of  the  Old  Testament.  Therefore,  the  Old  Testament, 
as  received  by  us,  is  expressly  sanctioned  by  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  Apostles,  its  canonical  authority  is  established,  and 
to  every  book  of  it  we  may  safely  trust  as  the  inspired 
words  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

To  the  Christian  believer,  this  testimony  of  the  Saviour 
and  His  Apostles  is  abundantly  sufficient.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  to  use  another  method  to  parry  the  assault  of  the 
infidel,  who  asserts  that  these  sacred  books  are  forgeries, 
and  that  their  author  or  authors  surreptitiously  palmed 
them  off  upon  the  ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  Jewish 
people. 

This  charge  is  conclusively  met  and  its  absurdity  de- 


426  APPENDIX. 

monstrated,  in  the  following  admirable  argument  condensed 
from  the  Evidences  of  Dr.  Gregory. 

"  No  forgery  was  ever  yet  so  complete  as  wholly  to 
escape  detection  for  any  great  length  of  time.  In  fictitious 
works,  even  in  those  in  which  most  particularities  abound, 
there  is  a  frequent  want  of  proportion  and  coherency  of 
parts,  so  as  to  prove  a  deficiency  of  invention  in  the  group- 
ing and  consistency  of  the  events.  There  must  certainly 
always  be  some  truth,  where  many  particularities  respect- 
ing time,  place,  and  persons  are  related,  and  in  which  con- 
sistency is  observable ;  but  where  all  or  most  of  these  are 
absent,  the  inference  is,  that  the  account  or  history  must 
necessarily  be  far  from  authentic,  and,  of  course,  fictitious 
or  a  narrative  combined  of  fact  and  fiction.  Writers  of 
avowed  fiction,  however  true  to  nature,  are  frequently 
careless  respecting  such  consistency  ;  but  writers,  or  rather 
forgers,  of  what  they  wish  to  pass  in  the  world  as  authentic, 
because  anxious  about  consistency,  are  careful  to  avoid 
striking  particularities,  since  critical  readers  might  easily 
find  important  errors  and  inconsistencies  not  obvious  to 
every  eye.  And  further,  when  it  is  considered,  what  an 
amount  of  minute  knowledge  is  required  in  writing  history, 
to  furnish  particularities — so  as  to  be  accurate  in  giving 
names  of  persons,  in  stating  times  and  describing  places 
and  events — it  will  appear  evident,  that  no  mere  forger  or 
writer  of  superficial  narrative,  to  suit  a  certain  base  pur- 
pose, "could  create  them  and  make  a  show  of  consistency  in 
every  part,  so  as  to  impose  such  history  upon  the  intelligent 
world  as  genuine  and  authentic.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
if  the  writers  themselves  had  been,  though  in  different 
times  and  places,  concerned  in  the  events  narrated,  or  eye- 
witnesses of  the  events  as  they  occurred,  or  stated  clearly, 
simply,  and  impartially  the  stories  they  had  received  from 
truthful  testimony,  the  particularities  related  would  bear 
the  impression  of  consistency  and  truth.  And,  again,  if 
forgers,  hazarding  the  setting  forth  of  such  particularities 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS    OP   THE   BIBLE.      427 

in  their  narratives,  were  certain  of  the  fraud  being  detected 
by  common  readers  thousands  of  years  after  their  death, 
they  must,  a  fortiori,  have  been  certain  of  their  fraud  being 
detected  and  exposed  when  first  published  by  the  persons 
who,  like  the  forgers  themselves,  had  been  concerned  in  the 
transactions  and  witnesses  of  the  events  recorded.  When, 
therefore,  such  witnesses,  and  these  to  the  number  of  thou- 
sands, concerned  in  the  events,  could,  when  the  histories 
were  written  and  preserved  among  the  archives  of  their 
race  as  of  all  but  infinite  importance,  detect  neither  fraud, 
misstatement  nor  imposture ;  and  when,  moreover,  the  in- 
ternal evidence  has  been,  and  is  such,  that  no  subsequent 
critics  or  commentators  could,  upon  comparison  of  books, 
or  dates,  or  circumstances,  wring  one  single  error  or  con- 
tradiction from  their  pages,  the  fact  of  their  authenticity 
and  genuineness  becomes  still  more  striking  and  incontro- 
vertible. 

"Apply  these  criteria  to  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  result  will  be  demonstrative  of  their  authen- 
ticity. Not  only  do  they  contain  the  names  of  the  persons 
who  wrote  the  various  books,  known  in  their  own  various 
ages  as  the  authors  of  them,  and  recognized  as  the  writers 
of  undoubted  truths,  but  they  abound  in  those  particulari- 
ties with  regard  to  times,  places,  and  events  of  the  most 
note  and  importance  in  relation  to  the  human  race,  without 
which  no  history  can  be  authentic  and  genuine.  Look  to 
the  particular  account  of  the  creation  and  the  fall, — of  the 
deluge,  the  building  of  Babel,  the  dispersion  of  mankind, 
and  the  short  duration  of  human  life  after  the  deluge  ; — 
look  to  the  accounts  of  the  successive  patriarchs,  the  inter- 
esting history  of  Joseph  in  Egypt,  the  sojourn  in  that  coun- 
try of  the  Israelites,  and  their  escape  from  the  tyranny  of 
Pharaoh,  and  their  long  journeyings  in  the  wilderness, 
marked  by  such  marvellous  events,  before  they  entered  the 
promised  land  ; — look  to  the  history  of  the  Israelites  after- 
wards, their  various  offences  against  God,  both  in  the  times 


428  APPENDIX. 

of  the  Judges  and  the  Kings,  and  their  as  signal  punish- 
ment and  subsequent  captivity  in  Babylon  :  and  in  connec- 
tion with  all  these  events,  look  at  the  accuracy  of  geograph- 
ical detail,  which  no  geographer,  ancient  or  modern,  from 
Strabo  down  to  the  present  day,  could  prove  erroneous ; 
and  consider  also  that  the  Jewish  historians  and  prophets 
were  not  depicting  the  manners  and  customs,  or  chronicling 
the  deeds  of  Gentile  nations,  but  of  their  own  peculiar 
people, — and  then  mark  the  impartiality  of  their  narratives 
— the  simplicity  with  which  they  record  their  iniquities 
against  God,  as  well  as  their  obedience  to  His  laws,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  state  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
awarded  punishments ; — look  to  all  those  features  and  con- 
sider whether  any  profane  histories,  such  as  those  of  Thu- 
cydides  or  Tacitus  in  ancient,  or  of  Clarendon  or  Hume  in 
modern  times,  all  received  as  genuine,  and  in  most  part 
authentic,  show  such  internal  evidences  of  authenticity,  and 
then  say,  after  all  this,  whether  or  not  the  sacred  Scriptures 
can  be  forgeries ! 

"  Forgeries  are  never  committed  without  some  particu- 
lar motive,  or  without  some  probability  of  success.  But 
the  sacred  writers  could  not  be  influenced  by  any  such 
motives  as  those  of  literary  vanity,  pecuniary  gain,  or  a 
desire  through  their  histories  to  perpetuate  national  glory ; 
and  when  writing  for  their  own  people  accounts  of  them- 
selves, and  the  events  distinguishing  them  as  a  people 
chosen  of  God  for  a  particular  purpose,  they  must  be 
afflicted  with  no  common  blindness,  who  can  imagine  them 
to  have  written  falsehoods.  As  the  characters  of  all  authors 
are  some  guarantee  for  the  honesty  or  otherwise  of  their 
productions,  it  cannot  be  denied  by  even  the  enemies  of 
Scripture,  that  the  books  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments are  written  in  the  highest  style  of  morality,  and  that, 
hence,  the  writers  themselves  were  men  of  the  highest 
characters.  Otherwise  their  books  would  not  have  been 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   BIBLE.       429 

treasured  by  the  people,  and  been  regarded  for  so  many 
centuries  as  the  archives  of  their  history  and  of  their  laws, 
rites  and  ceremonies,  and  revered  with  a  degree  of  inalien- 
able affection,  which  persecutions,  proscriptions,  and  mas- 
sacres could  not  quench,  nor  even  weaken.  And,  further, 
as  those  writers  or  books  possess  such  diversity  of  style,  as 
to  prove  them  the  work  of  no  single  Jew,  or  of  any  one 
age,  and  as  allusions  are  frequently  made  to  each  other  by 
successive  writers,  it  would  inevitably  follow,  if  the  books 
were  forgeries,  that  there  must  have  existed  a  number  of 
impostors  in  successive  ages  from  Moses  to  Malachi,  a 
period  of  one  thousand  and  fifty-four  years,  all  animated  by 
one  spirit,  as  if  the  living  and  dead  were  in  actual  collusion, 
all  writing  in  harmony  and  having  reference,  more  or  less, 
to  one  great  and  absorbing  event,  seen  prophetically  in  the 
far  distance,  and  yet  all  proclaiming  the  iniquity  of  their 
own  people,  and  threatening  them  with,  and  warning  them 
of,  impending  woes  and  judgments.  Now  all  this  is  absurd 
and  incredible. 

"  But  when  could  such  forgeries  have  been  written  and 
imposed  upon  the  Jews  as  genuine  and  authentic  histories 
and  prophecies  ?  Before  or  after  the  Babylonish  captivity  ? 
Not  assuredly  before  it,  because  the  imposition  thus  prac- 
tised upon  the  minds  and  belief  of  a  whole  people  would 
have  been  detected  and  exposed ;  and  as  assuredly  not  after 
it,  as  the  Hebrew  then  ceased  to  be  a  spoken  language. 
And  as  no  Hebrew  grammar  existed  till  many  ages  after- 
wards, and  it  is  difficult  to  write  in  a  dead  language,  even 
with  the  help  of  a  grammar,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
write  without  one.  It  is  therefore  plain  that  all  the  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  must  have  been  written  prior  to  the 
Babylonian  captivity ;  and  as,  from  internal  evidence,  they 
could  not  all  have  been  written  in  the  same  age,  and  by 
one  or  more  authors,  some  of  them  must  have  been  written 
long  previous  to  the  others,  and  hence,  if  they  be  not  gen- 


430  APPENDIX. 

uine  and  authentic,  we  are  again  led  back  to  a  collusion  of 
impostors  living  centuries  apart,  all  ^esolved  upon  deceiv- 
ing a  whole  people,  who  openly  and  willingly  submitted  to, 
and  professedly  believed  in,  the  inconceivable  deception ; 
and  who  also  transmitted  it  through  their  successors, 
amidst  trying  and  singular  events,  to  the  present  day. 

"  Admitting  that  some  changes  had  necessarily  taken 
place  in  the  language  during  the  thousand  and  fifty-four 
years  between  Moses  and  Malachi,  the  narrative  styles  of 
the  various  writers  still  retained  the  majesty  and  simplicity 
suitable  for  the  people  for  whose  more  immediate  informa- 
tion they  wrote,  and  to  the  circumstances  of  the  authors 
themselves.  And  this  simple  naturalness  is  alone  sufficient 
to  disprove  the  assertion  of  their  being  forged.  The  dra- 
matic and  sublime  parts  of  Job,  and  much  of  the  prophetic 
writings,  may  be  less  simple,  and  more  .glowing  and  figura- 
tive in  style  ;  but  still  this  was  natural  in  looking  along  the 
vistas  of  futurity,  and  deciphering  in  figures  the  threaten- 
ings  of  woe  upon  peoples  and  empires,  and  the  promises  of 
grace  and  peace  to  the  followers  of  the  'Man  of  Sor- 
rows ; »  whereas,  a  style  strained  and  affected  in  even  the 
loftiest  narrative,  proves  that  the  writer  is  more  anxious  to 
display  himself  than  his  subject.  But  the  Scripture  narra- 
tives are  models  of  simplicity  and  perfection.  Nothing  is 
afiected — nothing  is  strained  ;  the  majesty  of  the  subject  is 
seen,  and  great  truths  are  stated,  and  events  narrated, 
with  a  force  and  clearness,  often  with  a  beauty  and  pathos 
which  no  other  writers  ever  rivalled,  whilst  the  writers 
themselves  are  personally,  as  authors,  hid  behind  the  veil."  l 

.It  is  because  they  will  not  stand  such  tests  as  the  above 
that  the  books  termed  the  Apocrypha  are  by  Protestants 
rejected  from  the  sacred  canon.  The  term  Apocrypha  is 
Greek,  signifying  hidden  or  concealed,  and  is  applied  to 
those  books  whose  origin  is  unknown,  or  the  authority  of 
which  is  either  doubtful  or  absolutely  denied.  The  books 
»  McBurnie's  Prize  Essay  on  Infidelity. 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS  OF  THE  BIBLE.      431 

in  question  were,  most  of  them,  the  work  of  Jews  in  the 
century  before  Christ.  Some  of  them,  as  Tobit,  Susannah, 
and  (as  it  is  called  by  Jerome)  the  fable  of  Bel  and  the 
Dragon,  &c.,  are  religious  romances.  Some  of  the  books 
contain  false  doctrine,  as  praying  for  the  dead,  praising 
suicide,  &c. ;  and  some  are  distinguished  by  anachronisms. 
Some  of  them  contain  much  that  is  instructive,  and  have 
been  held  in  high  esteem  by  not  a  few  of  the  greatest  men 
in  the  Christian  Church.  But  it  is  certain  that  they  have 
never  been  considered  as  on  a  level  with  the  Hebrew  Bi- 
ble. They  never  belonged  to  it.  The  Jews  never  ac- 
knowledged them  as  inspired  writings.  Philo  and  Jo- 
sephus  never  mention  them ;  the  New  Testament  is  alto- 
gether silent  about  them — never  once  quoting  them.  At 
length  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Council  of  Trent  ven- 
tured to  decree  that  they  should  be  regarded  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  Word  of  God.  By  those,  however,  who  do  not 
accept  the  dogma  of  Papal  infallibility,  the  judgment  of 
St.  Augustine  will  be  regarded  as  carrying  far  more  weight. 
"  Let  us,"  he  says,  "  lay  aside  those  books  which  have  been 
called  apocryphal,  because  their  authors  were  not  known 
to  our  fathers,  who  have  by  a  constant  and  certain  succes- 
sion transmitted  down  to  us  the  certainty  and  truth  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Though  some  things  in  these  apocryphal 
books  are  true,  yet  as  there  are  hi  them  multitudes  of  oth- 
ers which  are  false,  they  are  of  no  authority." 

u  It  is  an  important  fact,"  says  Dr.  Alexander,  "  that  a 
short  time  after  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  was  closed, 
a  translation  was  made  of  the  whole  of  the  books  into  the 
Greek  language.  This  translation  was  made  at  Alexandria, 
in  Egypt,  at  the  request,  it  is  said,  of  Ptolemy  Philadel- 
phus,  king  of  Egypt,  that  he  might  have  a  copy  of  these 
sacred  books  in  the  famous  library  which  he  was  engaged 
in  collecting.  It  is  called  The  Septuagint,  from  its  being 
made,  according  to  the  accounts  which  have  been  handed 


432  APPENDIX. 

down,  by  seventy,  or  rather  seventy-two,  men;  six  from 
each  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.  So  many  fabulous  things  have 
been  reported  concerning  this  version,  that  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain  the  precise  truth.  But  it  is  manifest  from 
internal  evidence,  that  it  was  not  the  work  of  one  hand, 
nor,  probably,  of  one  set  of  translators ;  for,  while  some 
books  are  rendered  with  great  accuracy,  and  in  a  very  lit- 
eral manner,  others  are  translated  with  little  care,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  original  is  very  imperfectly  given. 

"  The  probability  is,  that  the  Pentateuch  was  first  trans- 
lated, and  the  other  books  were  added  from  time  to  time, 
by  different  hands ;  but  when  the  work  was  once  begun,  it 
is  not  likely  that  it  would  be  long  before  the  whole  was 
completed. 

"  Now  this  Greek  version  contains  all  the  books  which 
are  found  in  our  canonical  Hebrew  Bibles.  It  is  a  good 
witness,  therefore,  to  prove  that  all  these  books  were  in  the 
canon  when  this  version  was  made. 

"  There  is,  moreover,  a  distinct  and  remarkable  testi- 
mony to  the  antiquity  of  the  five  books  of  Moses  in  the 
Samaritan  Pentateuch,  which  has  existed  in  a  form  entirely 
separate  from  the  Jewish  copies,  and  a  character  totally 
different  from  that  in  which  the  Hebrew  Bible  has  been 
for  many  ages  written.  It  has  also  been  preserved  and 
handed  down  to  us  by  a  people  who  have  ever  been  hostile 
to  the  Jews.  This  Pentateuch  has,  without  doubt,  been 
transmitted  through  a  separate  channel,  ever  since  the  ten 
tribes  of  Israel  were  carried  captive.  It  furnishes  authen- 
tic testimony  to  the  great  antiquity  of  the  books  of  Moses, 
and  shows  how  little  they  have  been  corrupted,  during  the 
lapse  of  nearly  three  thousand  years." 

Overwhelming  as  is  the  train  of  evidences  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  testimony 
in  behalf  of  those  of  the  New  Testament  is  even  yet  more 
cogent  and  irresistible. 


AUTHENTICITY   AND  GENUINENESS    OF  THE   BIBLE.      433 

We  have,  it  is  true,  no  precise  information  as  to  when 
the  New  Testament  canon  was  completed.  There  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  any  particular  time  or  place  in 
which  the  writings  were  collected  and  authenticated.  From 
the  manner  in  which  they  were  at  first  circulated,  some  of 
them  were  necessarily  longer  of  reaching  certain  places 
than  others.  Owing  to  this  circumstance,  and  to  that  of  a 
few  of  the  books  being  addressed  to  individual  believers, 
or  to  their  not  having  the  name  of  their  writers  affixed  or 
the  designation  of  the  apostle  added,  a  doubt  for  a  time 
existed  among  some  respecting  the  genuineness  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistle  of  James,  the  second 
Epistle  of  Peter,  the  second  and  third  Epistles  of  John, 
the  Epistle  of  Jude,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation.  These, 
however,  though  not  universally,  were  generally  acknowl- 
edged ;  while  all  the  other  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  without  dispute  received  from  the  beginning. '  The 
hesitation  with  which  the  claims  of  a  portion  of  them  were 
regarded  in  some  places  of  the  Christian  world,  is  of  itself 
a  strong  presumption  that  the  universal  and  cordial  recep- 
tion which  was  given  to  all  the  other  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  proceeded  upon  clear,  incontestable  evidence 
of  their  authenticity. 

At  length  these  books,  which  had  not  at  first  been  ad- 
mitted, were,  like  the  rest,  universally  received,  not  by  the 
votes  of  a  council,  as  is  sometimes  asserted,  but  after  delib- 
erate and  free  inquiry  by  many  separate  churches,  under 
the  superintending  providence  of  God,  in  different  parts  of 
the  world.  And  it  is  certain,  that  though  several  Apocry- 
phal writings  were  published  under  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  Apostles,  most  of  which  have  perished, 
though  some  are  still  extant,  yet  no  other  books  besides 
those  which  at  present  compose  the  volume  of  the  New 
Testament,  were  admitted  by  the  churches. 

The  arguments  which  sustain  the  authenticity  of  that 
10 


434  APPENDIX. 

volume  may  be  thus  briefly  summed  up.  Its  several  por- 
tions are  quoted  as  the  productions  of  the  writers  whose 
names  they  bear,  by  Christian  authors  of  the  first  century, 
several  of  whom  had  known  and  conversed  with  the  Apos- 
tles and  immediate  disciples  of  Christ.  They  were  uni- 
formly spoken  of  in  terms  expressive  of  the  highest  respect, 
as  inspired  compositions.  They  were  publicly  read  and 
expounded  in  the  religious  assemblies  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. They  were  in  very  early  times  collected  into  a  dis- 
tinct volume,  and  distinguished  by  appropriate  names  and 
titles  of  respect.  Commentaries  were  anciently  composed 
upon  them,  'harmonies  were  formed  out  of  them,  and  trans- 
lations of  them  were  made  into  different  languages.  They 
were  received,  not  only  by  orthodox  Christians,  but  by 
heretics  of  various  descriptions,  and  were  appealed  to  as 
authorities  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  controversy.  Even 
the  early  adversaries  of  Christianity,  such  as  Julian  and 
Porphyry,  have  never  questioned  the  genuineness  of  the 
sacred  books,  but  speak  of  the  Gospels  as  the  composition 
of  the  Evangelists.  And  formal  catalogues  of  the  Scrip- 
ture were  formed  by  private  individuals  and  by  councils, 
from  which  it  appears  that  the  same  books  were  then  re- 
ceived which  are  at  present  acknowledged.  In  short,  no 
evidence  which  the  subject  admits  of  is  found  wanting. 

The  impossibility  of  the  New  Testament  being  a  forgery 
is  thus  forcibly  demonstrated  by  Bishop  Wilson.  "  The 
sacred  books  are  either  the  productions  of  the  Apostles 
and  Evangelists,  or  they  are  a  direct  and  bare-faced  fabri- 
cation, composed  by  impostors  of  the  apostolic  or  a  succeed- 
ing age.  Now,  I  affirm  that  it  is  morally  impossible,  from 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  that  they  could  be  false  pro- 
ductions imposed  upon  the  Christian  Church.  For,  take 
what  age  you  please,  and  tell  me  when  such  an  attempt 
could  have  been  made. 

"  Could  it  have  been  made  during  the  lives  of  the  Apos- 


AUTHENTICITY   AND   GENUINENESS    OP   THE   BIBLE.      435 

ties  ?  What !  twenty-seven  books,  the  production  of  eight 
distinct  authors,  palmed  upon  the  very  converts  of  those 
authors,  with  whom  they  were  in  constant  intercourse, 
during  the  very  period  of  that  intercourse  ?  The  suppo- 
sition refutes  itself. 

"  But,  could  it  have  been  in  a  subsequent  age  ?  Cer- 
tainly not  after  the  commencement  of  the  third  century, 
when  the  books  were  actually  in  circulation  over  the  world, 
were  read  in  the  churches,  transmitted  by  versions  into 
new  languages,  and  preserved  as  the  most  precious  deposit 
in  the  Christian  archives!  Could  false  books  have  been 
imposed,  under  such  circumstances,  upon  the  wakeful  minds 
of  Christians,  in  every  part  of  the  world ;  and  imposed  on 
them,  not  only  as  inspired  writings,  but  as  the  works  of  the 
Apostles  and  Evangelists,  which  had  been  received  by  their 
immediate  parents  and  forefathers,  as  their  sacred  books, 
and  had  been  handed  down  to  them  from  the  Apostles,  from 
age  to  age  ?  Incredible — absurd — morally  impossible ! 
Ten  thousand  voices  would  instantly  have  cried  out  that 
they  had  never  heard  of  such  books  previous  to  their  pro- 
duction by  the  supposed  impostor. 

"  Then  the  only  time  when  a  forgery  of  such  magnitude 
appears  even  possible,  is  between  the  death  of  the  Apostles 
and  the  period  of  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  books.  But 
St.  John  lived  till  quite  the  close  of  the  first  century — his 
own  disciple,  Polycarp,  till  beyond  the  middle  of  the  second 
— and  Irenseus,  the  disciple  of  Polycarp,  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  third ;  when  Tertullian  and  a  host  of  witnesses 
put  the  supposition  of  forgery  quite  out  of  the  question. 
Can  any  one  imagine,  that  during  this  brief  period  a  daring 
falsification,  such  as  we  are  considering,  could  have  been 
made — a  falsification  which  must  at  least  have  demanded  a 
long  series  of  ages — much  obscurity — many  favorable  oppor- 
tunities, to  have  been  attempted  even  as  to  a  single  book 
out  of  the  twenty-seven,  in  a  single  community,  out  of  the 


436  APPENDIX. 

thousands  which  overspread,  according  to  all  testimony, 
the  Roman  empire,  by  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  \ 

"But  not  only  so.  Christianity  was  planted  in  the 
midst  of  enemies  and  persecutors.  Christianity  raised  its 
head  amidst  Judaism  and  heathen  idolatry.  Christianity 
was  assaulted  for  three  hundred  years  by  a  succession  of 
violent  and  cruel  and  unjust  persecutions.  Christianity  was 
never  without  some  false  disciples  in  its  own  bosom,  watch- 
ful to  seize  every  advantage.  It  was  morally  impossible 
that  any  fraud  should  have  escaped,  not  only  discovery,  but 
that  public  exposure  and  disgrace  from  all  parties,  which  at- 
tend on  a  detected  imposition." 

Having  ascertained  to  our  satisfaction  the  authenticity 
of  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  we  proceed 
to  inquire  whether  they  have  come  down  to  us  with  a 
genuine  and  uncorrupted  text  f 

•  The  importance  of  this  inquiry  will  be  readily  seen. 
For  although  it  is  proved  that  the  sacred  books  proceeded 
at  first  from  the  prophets  or  apostles  whose  names  they 
bear,  it  may  still  be  said  that  they  may  have  been  so  altered 
since  that  time  as  to  convey  to  us  very  false  information 
with  regard  to  their  contents.  Granted  that  they  may  have 
had  the  infallible  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  yet  if  we 
have  not  the  message  as  it  was  imparted  to  them,  if  in  the 
course  of  time  the  Bible  has  been  mutilated  by  the  drop- 
ping out  of  precious  words,  while  others  have  been  inter- 
polated, how  can  it  command  our  homage  or  claim  our  con- 
fidence ?  Like  a  harp  with  broken  and  missing  chords,  it 
has  lost  its  power  to  charm. 

Still  there  is  danger  of  misapprehension  and  unreason- 
able expectation  upon  this  subject.  It  will  not  do  to  rest 
in  the  presumption  that  because  God  has  given  us  a  revela- 
tion, His  providence  would  necessarily  guard  it  from  all  in- 
jury, and  cause  it  to  be  transmitted  entire  and  uncorrupted 
to  all  coming  generations.  The  analogy  of  nature  does  not 


AUTHENTICITY    AND    GENUINENESS    OF   THE   BIBLE.       437 

support  this  presumption ;  for  the  best  blessings  of  Heaven 
are  abused  and  perverted  by  the  vices  and  negligences  of 
those  upon  whom  they  are  bestowed,  and  the  faults,  political 
or  moral,  of  one  generation,  entail  their  evil  consequences 
upon  generations  following.  As  to  the  matter  in  question, 
it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  there  are  numerous  various 
readings  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  have 
been  occasioned  by  frequent  transcription.  The  inspired 
autographs  have  long  ago  perished,  and  the  most  ancient 
copies  to  which  we  have  access  exhibit  many  textual  varia- 
tions. No  promise  of  infallibility  was  made  to  transcribers, 
and  no  pledge  that  the  copy  should  be  a  perfect  copy  of 
the  original.  Hence  that  has  befallen  the  Bible  which  is 
common  to  other  books  that  have  come  down  from  an- 
tiquity. Many  of  the  words  and  letters  of  the  inspired 
pages  are  occasion  of  question  and  debate. 

When  the  fact  of  the  various  readings  was  first  made 
known  in  the  course  of  the  last  century,  it  was  a  subject 
of  triumph  to  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith  and  a 
cause  of  some  apprehension  to  its  friends.  It  led,  however, 
to  a  most  thorough  investigation  of  the  state  of  the  sacred 
text,  and  the  result  of  the  untiring  labors  of  numerous 
great  scholars  has  vindicated  the  inspired  oracles  on  this 
point  also.  It  is  now  conceded  that,  though  there  are  nu- 
merous various  readings,  yet  they  are  all  of  an  exceedingly 
unimportant  character.  Referring  to  this  subject,  it  is  said 
by  the  learned  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  "  that  all  the  omissions  of 
the  ancient  manuscripts  put  together,  would  not  counte- 
nance the  omission  of  any  essential  doctrine  of  the  Gospel, 
relative  to  faith  and  morals,  beyond  what  may  be  found  in 
the  Complutensian  or  Elzevir  editions."  The  Jews,  it  is 
well  known,  were  most  scrupulous  in  preserving  entire  the 
works  of  their  inspired  writers,  and  in  preventing  the  intru^ 
sion  of  literal  errors  into  the  copies  which  were  from  time 
to  time  transcribed.  Among  the  means  which  they  adopt- 


438  APPENDIX. 

ed  to  this  end,  was  that  of  noting  and  recording  the  exact 
number  of  words,  verses,  points  and  accents,  in  each  book. 
The  duty  of  doing  so  was  the  province  of  the  Jewish  doc- 
tors or  learned  men,  called  Masorites.  By  these  acute 
grammarians,  all"  the  verses  of  each  book  and  of  each  sec- 
tion were  numbered,  and  the  amount  placed  at  the  end  of 
each  in  numerical  letters,  or  in  some  symbolical  word  form- 
ed out  of  them ;  the  middle  verse  of  each  book  was  also 
marked,  and  even  the  very  letters  were  numbered  ;  and  all 
this  was  done  to  preserve  the  text  from  any  alteration  by 
either  fraud  or  negligence. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  integrity  of  the  text  of  the 
Old  Testament,  applies  equally  to  that  of  the  New.  Though 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  New  Testament  text,  by  being 
more  frequently  transcribed  than  the  Old,  became  liable  to 
a  greater  proportion  of  various  readings,  originating  from 
the  mistakes  of  the  transcribers,  yet  this  very  circumstance 
was  likewise  a  sure  protection  against  wilful  perversion  or 
corruption ;  for  in  proportion  as  copies  were  multiplied, 
the  difficulty  of  effecting  a  general  corruption  was  in- 
creased. No  such  system  as  that  of  the  Masorites  was 
ever  adopted  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  New  Testament 
text,  but  there  are  not  wanting  ample  means  for  ascertain- 
ing the  true  reading.  More  than  three  hundred  and  fifty 
ancient  manuscript  copies  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, written  in  different  ages  and  countries,  have  come 
down  to  us.  There  are  numerous  ancient  translations, 
some  of  which  were  made  as  early  as  the  second  century. 
And  a  third  source  of  correction  exists  in  the  numberless 
quotations  from  the  New  Testament  with  which  the  works 
of  the  Christian  fathers  and  other  early  writers  abound. 
In  all  these  sources  of  evidence  there  is  a  substantial  agree- 
ment, proving  beyond  dispute  that  the  words  spoken  by 
the  Saviour,  and  those  written  by  the  Apostles  and  Evan- 
gelists, have  come  down  to  us  unchanged. 


AUTHENTICITY   AND  GENUINENESS   OF  THE  BIBLE.      439 

The  arguments  for  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  require  volumes  in  order  fully  to  do 
them  justice.  They  have  been  thus  conclusively  summed 
up  by  Isaac  Taylor,  in  the  last  chapter  of  his  work  on  the 
Transmission  of  Ancient  Books  :  "  In  the  number  and  an- 
tiquity of  manuscripts ;  in  extent  of  early  circulation ;  in 
the  importance  attached  to  them  by  their  possessors;  in 
the  respect  paid  to  them  by  copyists  of  later  ages ;  in  the 
various  and  conflicting  sentiments  of  those  who  accepted 
the  sacred  writings  as  the  rule  of  faith  ;  in  the  visible  ef- 
fects of  these  books  from  age  to  age  ;  in  the  body  of  ref- 
erences and  quotations ;  in  the  number  of  early  versions ; 
in  the  peculiar  circumstances  connected  with  the  extinc- 
tion, as  vernacular  idioms,  of  the  languages  in  which  the 
originals  were  written ;  in  the  means  of  comparison  with 
spurious  or  rival  compositions ;  in  the  strength  of  the  in- 
ference from  the  genuineness  to  the  credibility  of  the 
books ;  in  all  these  points,  the  comparative  weight  of  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  the  records  of  Christianity,  is  incontro- 
vertibly  and  immeasurably  greater  than  that  which  is  al- 
lowed, without  a  scruple,  in  the  instance  of  the  remains  of 
profane  antiquity." 


THE  END. 


THE  TRIUMPHS  OF  THE  BIBLE, 

WITH    THE   TESTIMONY    OP    SCIENCE    TO   ITS    TRUTIL 
BY  KEY.  HENRY  TULLIDGE.     1  vol.  12mo.    $1  50. 


Extracts  from  Testimonials,  etc. 


From  the  Rt.  JBev.  ALONZO  POTTEE,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Pennsylvania. 

The  Eev.  Mr.-Tullidge  has  written  a  work  on  Modern  Unbelief  and  its  objec- 
tions, with  which,  from  a  cursory  examination,  I  have  been  favorably  impressed,  and 
which  I  think  peculiarly  calculated  to  arrest  and  multiply  readers.  It  is  spirited, 
forcible,  and  enlivened  as  well  as  graced  by  many  quotations  from  the  best  writers. 
It  seems  to  me  fitted  to  command  an  extensive  sale. 

Tours  truly, 

PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  24M,  1862.  ALONZO  POTTEE. 

From  the  Et.  Eev.  W,  H.  ODENIIEIMER,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
New  Jersey. 

From  an  examination  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Tullidge's  work,  I  am  prepared  to  expres» 
my  favorable  opinion  of  its  merits  and  of  its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  Biblical 
•scholars  at  the  present  time. 

BURLINGTON,  N.  J.,  Jan.  1863.  W.  H.  ODENHEIMEE. 

From  the  Eev.  S.  H.  TYNG,  D.D.,  Rector  of  St.  George's  Church,  New  York. 

The  Eev.  Henry  Tullidge,  long  and  well  known  to  me,  has  prepared  a  very  com- 
pact and  extended  work  on  the  Triumphs  of  the  Bible,  &c.,  designed  to  Illustrate 
the  complete  vindication  of  its  historic  truth  from  all  the  discoveries  of  modern  in- 
vestigations. The  scheme  is  laid  out  with  skill,  and  from  the  superficial  view  I  hav« 
been  able  to  take  of  it,  connected  with  my  knowledge  of  the  ability  of  its  author,  I 
cannot  doubt  that  the  work  will  prove  useful  and  desirable. 

ST.  GEORGE'S  RECTORY.  Jan.  Wi,  1863.  S.  H.  TYNG. 


from,  the  Eev.  ISAAC  FERRIS,  D.D.,  LL.D ,  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Ou 
City  of  New  York. 

I  cheerfully  add  my  commendation  of  Mr.  Tullidge's  work  to  that  of  Dr.  Tyng. 

ISAAC  FEEEI9. 
UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  Jan.  9th,  1863. 

From  the  Rev.  WILLIAM  M.  ENGLES,  D.D.,  Editor  of  the  Presbyterian. 

EEV.   AND   DEAR   SlR  : 

I  have  examined  the  portion  of  the  MS.  which  you  left  with  me  on  the  Trinmphs 
of  the  Bible,  &c.,  and  feel  free  in  expressing  the  opinion,  that  both  in  its  plan  and 
execution,  it  is  admirably  adapted  to  be  a  popular  and  useful  work,  impressive  in  it« 
argument  and  calculated  to  interest  all  classes  of  readers.  I  remain, 

Yours,  very  truly,  WILLIAM  M.  ENGLES. 


From,  thi  Eev.  EENET  A.  BOAEDHAN,  D.D.,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
Corner  of  Twelfth  and  Walnut  Streets,  Philadelphia. 

On  a  cursory  examination  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Tullidge's  book  on  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity,  1  am  very  favorably  impressed  both  with  the  plan  of  the  work  and  tha 
execution  of  the  same.  It  will  be  found,  I  think,  a  useful  aid  in  dealing  with  tha 
shifting  phases  of  modern  Infidelity. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Oct.  31st,  1862.  HENEY  A.  BOAEDMAN. 


from  the  Eev.  J.  P.  DTTHBIX,  D.D.,  Secretary  of  Missionary  Society  of 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

I  have  taken  time  and  pains  to  examine  largely  the  plan  and  the  execution  of 
"The  Triumphs  of  the  Bible,  with  the  Testimony  of  Science  to  its  Truth,  by  Eev. 
Henry  Tullidge,  A.M,'1  and  can  commend  it  strongly.  I  know  of  no  work  that  covers 
the  same  ground.  That  part  of  it  on  the  Testimony  of  Science  to  the  Authenticity 
of  the  Bible,  is  of  great  value. 

NEW  YORK,  Jan.  10tt»  1863.  J.  p.  DUEBIN. 


From  the  Eev.  EICHARD  NEWTON,  D.D.,  Rector  of  the  C7turch  of  the  Epiphany, 

Philadelphia. 

I  have  examined  with  great  interest  portions  of  the  MS.  of  the  Eev.  H.  TuIIidge'a 
work  on  the  "Triumphs  of  the  Bible,"  &c.,  and  the  perusal  of  a  part  of  it  has  given 
rise  to  an  earnest  desire  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  reading  the  whole.  It  will  prove  a 
very  valuable  addition  to  our  works  on  the  evidences  of  the  divine  origin  of  our  holy 
religion.  It  will  furnish  most  efficient  aid  to  the  lover  of  the  Bible  in  defending  it 
against  the  plausible  attacks  of  infidelity  in  its  latest  developments.  The  student 
will  prize  it  for  its  sound  learning,  the  general  reader  will  be  interested  and  attracted 
by  the  lively  and  agreeable  style  in  which  it  discusses  the  grave  and  important  ihcuiea 
of  which  it  treats.  It  can  hardly  fail  to  prove  both  a  useful  and  a  popular  book. 

EICHABD  NEWTON. 


From  the  Eev.  G.  EMLEK  HARE,  D.D.,  Professor  of  BilUcal  Learning  in 

Philadelphia  Divinity  School. 

The  subject  of  the  book  is  most  important.  Mr.  Tullidge's  treatment  of  his  theme 
bespeaks  a  man  much  acquainted  with  literature,  and  fluent  in  the  use  of  the  pen. 
And  I  am  not  without  hope  that  the  work  will  attract  and  benefit  many  readers. 

G.  EMLEN  HABE. 


From  the  Eev.  EDTVAED  LOTTKSBKRRY,  Rector  of  St.  Jude's  Church, 

Philadelphia. 

I  fully  concur  with  Dr.  Newton  in  the  conviction  of  the  usefulness  of  Mr.  Tul- 
lulge's  work,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  8ee  it  given  to  the  public  in  a  permanent  form. 
The  field  of  inquiry  is  to  some  extent  comparatively  new ;  the  style  sufficiently  at- 
tractive to  ensure  a  reading;  and  the  materials  he  has  industriously  collated  such  as 
cannot  fail  to  interest  and  instruct.  It  is  a  book  adapted  to  the  times  and  to  the  gen- 
eral reader. 


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